Dynamics of island mass effect – Part 2: Phytoplankton physiological responses

Bourdin, Guillaume; Karp-Boss, Lee; Lombard, Fabien; Gorsky, Gabriel; Boss, Emmanuel

doi:10.5194/bg-23-2687-2026

Articles | Volume 23, issue 8

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2687-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2687-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 8

Research article

|

21 Apr 2026

Research article |

| 21 Apr 2026

Dynamics of island mass effect – Part 2: Phytoplankton physiological responses

Guillaume Bourdin, Lee Karp-Boss, Fabien Lombard, Gabriel Gorsky, and Emmanuel Boss

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-2687-2026-supplement

Data sets

Continuous Underway Data Recorded during the Tara Pacific Expedition G. Bourdin and E. Boss https://doi.org/10.5067/SEABASS/TARA_PACIFIC_EXPEDITION/DATA001

Pigment Concentrations Derived from High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Analysis from Samples Collected during the Tara Pacific Expedition from 2016-2018 G. Bourdin and L. Karp-Boss https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/BCO-DMO.889930.1

Environmental context observed during the Tara Pacific Expedition 2016-2018, simplified version at site level (Version 1) G. Bourdin et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6474974

Dynamics of island mass effect: detection input & output data G. Bourdin https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17156826

Model code and software

Dynamics of Island Mass Effect: Multi-Satellite Binning Package G. Bourdin https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13376825

Short summary

Island mass effect (IME) refers to elevated chlorophyll a concentrations around islands, often extending hundreds of kilometers into oligotrophic waters. Using satellite-derived nutrient and iron stress indices and in situ bio-optical data from the Tara Pacific expedition, we show that IMEs are associated with recurring iron and macronutrient enrichments, and changes in phytoplankton community composition relative to the regional background ocean.