The role of phytoplankton in structuring global oceanic dissolved organic carbon pools.

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a major pathway for atmospheric CO2 transfer to long-lived oceanic DOC reservoirs. Yet, current models rarely accounted for its molecular and taxonomic heterogeneity across growth seasons. Here, using ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS), we characterized DOC molecular signatures across diverse algal taxa. Recalcitrant DOC accounted for over 10% of their total organic carbon in all algal groups, highlighting a widespread and previously underappreciated trait. Additionally, we integrated these signatures with satellite-derived, taxon-resolved chlorophyll-a concentrations to develop machine learning models for predicting overall surficial DOC concentrations. Including taxon-specific carbon allocation markedly improved mod

SUBMITTER: Lu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12368110 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature