Abrupt declines in marine phytoplankton production driven by warming and biodiversity loss in a microcosm experiment.

ABSTRACT: Rising sea surface temperatures are expected to lead to the loss of phytoplankton biodiversity. However, we currently understand very little about the interactions between warming, loss of phytoplankton diversity and its impact on the oceans' primary production. We experimentally manipulated the species richness of marine phytoplankton communities under a range of warming scenarios, and found that ecosystem production declined more abruptly with species loss in communities exposed to higher temperatures. Species contributing positively to ecosystem production in the warmed treatments were those that had the highest optimal temperatures for photosynthesis, implying that the synergistic impacts of warming and biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning were mediated by thermal trait variabili

SUBMITTER: Bestion E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7007813 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature