To closely monitor the state of our planet, we require systems that can monitor the observation of many different properties at the same time. We create indicators that resemble the behavior of many different simultaneous observations. We apply the method to create indicators representing the Earth's biosphere. The indicators show a productivity gradient and a water gradient. The resulting indicators can detect a large number of changes and extremes in the Earth system.

Macroalgal beds are among the vegetated coastal ecosystems that take up atmospheric CO₂. We investigated the relationships between macroalgal metabolism and inorganic and organic carbon fluxes in a temperate macroalgal bed during the productive time of year. The macroalgal metabolism formed water with low CO₂ and high dissolved organic carbon concentrations that was then exported offshore. This export process potentially enhances CO₂ uptake in and around macroalgal beds.

We report on biological productivity under turbulent nitrate flux amplified with the Kuroshio. Oceanographic observations exhibit that the Kuroshio topographically enhances significant turbulent mixing and nitrate influx to the euphotic zone. Onboard experiments show phytoplankton and microzooplankton growths enhanced with the nitrate flux and a significant microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton. These rapid and systematic trophodynamics enhance biological productivity in the Kuroshio.

Tropospheric iodine takes part in numerous atmospheric chemical cycles, including tropospheric ozone destruction and aerosol formation. Due to its significance for atmospheric processes, it is crucial to constrain its sources and sinks. This paper aims at investigating and understanding features of biogenic iodate-to-iodide reduction in microalgal monocultures. We find that phytoplankton senescence may play a crucial role in the release of iodide to the marine environment.

Samples were collected in August 2016 in the Rajang River and its estuary, with tropical forest in the river basin and peatland in the estuary. Organic matter composition was influenced by transportation in the river basin, whereas peatland added clear biodegraded parts to the fluvial organic matter, which implies modification of the initial lability and/or starting points in the subsequent degradation and alternation processes after the organic matter enters the sea.

Here we show that small streams draining agricultural areas are potential hotspots for emissions of CO₂ to the atmosphere. We further conclude that the variability in stream CO₂ concentration over time is very high, caused by variations in both water discharge and primary production. Given the observed high levels of CO₂ and its temporally variable nature, agricultural streams clearly need more attention in order to understand and incorporate these dynamics in large-scale extrapolations.

Mineral mining in deep-sea hydrothermal settings will lead to the formation of plumes of fine-grained, chemically reactive, suspended matter. Understanding how natural hydrothermal plumes evolve as they disperse from their source, and how they affect their surrounding environment, may help in characterising the behaviour of the diluted part of mining plumes. The natural plume provided a heterogeneous, geochemically enriched habitat conducive to the development of a distinct microbial ecology.

BrGDGT distribution in Gonghai Lake is different from surrounding soils, and its derived temperature reflects a mean annual lake water temperature (LWT) that is higher than the mean annual air temperature (AT). The higher mean annual LWT is due to ice formation in winter that prevents thermal exchange between lake water and air.

Trichodesmium is a globally important marine nitrogen fixer that stimulates primary production in the surface ocean. We surveyed metaproteomes of Trichodesmium populations across the North Atlantic and other oceans, and we found that they experience simultaneous phosphate and iron stress because of the biophysical limits of nutrient uptake. Importantly, nitrogenase was most abundant during co-stress, indicating the potential importance of this phenotype to global nitrogen and carbon cycling.

In this study, we investigate the evolution of CO₂ uptake and ocean acidification in the North Atlantic Subpolar surface water. Our results show an important reduction in the capacity of the ocean to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere (1993–2007), due to a rapid increase in the fCO₂ and associated with a rapid decrease in pH. Conversely, data obtained during the last decade (2008–2017) show a stagnation of fCO₂ (increasing the ocean sink for CO₂) and pH.

Cyanobacterial blooms represent a threat to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, causing deoxygenation of the bottom water. In order to understand the natural versus anthropogenic factors driving these blooms, it is necessary to study long-term trends beyond observations. We have produced a record of cyanobacterial blooms since 1860 using organic molecules (biomarkers) preserved in sediments. Cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea are likely mainly related to temperature variability.

The oceans represent a poorly understood source of organic carbon to the atmosphere. In this paper, we present ship-based measurements of specific compounds in ambient air and seawater of the Southern Ocean. We present fluxes of these gases between air and sea at very high resolution. The data also contain evidence for day and night variations in some of these compounds. These measurements can be used to better understand the role of the Southern Ocean in the cycling of these compounds.

The frequency and severity of droughts are expected to increase in the tropics, impacting the functioning of tropical forests. Here, we synthesized observed responses to drought in Neotropical forests. We find that, during drought, trees generally close their leaf stomata, resulting in reductions in photosynthesis, growth and transpiration. However, on the ecosystem scale, these responses are not visible. This indicates that resistance to drought increases from the leaf to ecosystem scale.

Drought duration is a key control of the large-scale biospheric drought response. Thereby, the vegetation responds linearly to drought duration at large spatial scales. The slope of the linear relationship between the vegetation drought response and drought duration is steeper in drier climates.

Polymetallic nodule mining will remove hard substrata from the abyssal deep-sea floor. The only neighbouring ecosystems featuring hard substratum are seamounts, and their inhabiting fauna could aid in recovery post-mining. Nevertheless, first observations of seamount megafauna were very different from nodule-associated megafauna and showed little overlap. The possible uniqueness of these ecosystems implies that they should be included in management plans for the conservation of biodiversity.