Long-term trends in ocean chlorophyll

Marine phytoplankton account for approximately half of the production of organic matter on earth, support virtually all marine ecosystems, constrain fisheries yields, and influence climate and weather. Despite this importance, long-term trajectories of phytoplankton abundance or biomass are difficult to estimate, and the extent of changes is unresolved. Here, we use a new, publicly-available database of historical shipboard oceanographic measurements to estimate long-term changes in chlorophyll concentration from 1890 to 2010.

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Effects of sea surface warming on marine plankton

Ocean warming has been implicated in the observed decline of oceanic phytoplankton biomass. Some studies suggest a physical pathway of warming via stratification and nutrient flux, and others a biological effect on plankton metabolic rates; yet the relative strength and possible inter- action of these mechanisms remains unknown. Here, we implement projections from a global…

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Dr. Boris Worm

Biology Department Dalhousie University 1355 Oxford St. PO BOX 15000 Halifax, NS B3H 4R2 Canada 902-494-2478 bworm@dal.ca Dr. Boris Worm Global marine biodiversity: causes, consequences, conservation Marine biodiversity in space and time My research interests have long focused on the interaction between people and marine biodiversity, at a regional to global scale. I am interested… Details

Dr. Boris Worm

Dr. Boris Worm Global marine biodiversity: causes, consequences, conservation Marine biodiversity in space and time My research interests have long focused on the interaction between people and marine biodiversity, at a regional to global scale. I am interested in how patterns of marine biodiversity arise, how hotspots of high species richness are formed and maintained.… Details