Articles | Volume 21, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2473-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2473-2024
Research article
 | 
24 May 2024
Research article |  | 24 May 2024

Southern Ocean phytoplankton under climate change: a shifting balance of bottom-up and top-down control

Tianfei Xue, Jens Terhaar, A. E. Friederike Prowe, Thomas L. Frölicher, Andreas Oschlies, and Ivy Frenger

Data sets

An Argo mixed layer climatology and database (http://mixedlayer.ucsd.edu/) J. Holte et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073426

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Short summary
Phytoplankton play a crucial role in marine ecosystems. However, climate change's impact on phytoplankton biomass remains uncertain, particularly in the Southern Ocean. In this region, phytoplankton biomass within the water column is likely to remain stable in response to climate change, as supported by models. This stability arises from a shallower mixed layer, favoring phytoplankton growth but also increasing zooplankton grazing due to phytoplankton concentration near the surface.
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