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JPR Advance Access published online on October 28, 2009
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbp098
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Phytoplankton in a changing world: cell size and elemental stoichiometry

Zoe V. Finkel1,*, John Beardall2, Kevin J. Flynn3, Antonietta Quigg4,5, T. Alwyn V. Rees6 and John A. Raven7

1 Environmental Science Program, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E4L 1G7 2 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, PO Box 18, Clayton Vic 3800, Australia 3 Institute of Environmental Sustainability, University of Swansea, Wallace Building, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK 4 Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77551, USA 5 Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA 6 Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, PO Box 349, Warkworth, New Zealand 7 Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee at SCRI, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK

* CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: zfinkel{at}mta.ca

Received on July 13, 2009; accepted on September 29, 2009


  Abstract

Global increases in atmospheric CO2 and temperature are associated with changes in ocean chemistry and circulation, altering light and nutrient regimes. Resulting changes in phytoplankton community structure are expected to have a cascading effect on primary and export production, food web dynamics and the structure of the marine food web as well the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and bio-limiting elements in the sea. A review of current literature indicates cell size and elemental stoichiometry often respond predictably to abiotic conditions and follow biophysical rules that link environmental conditions to growth rates, and growth rates to food web interactions, and consequently to the biogeochemical cycling of elements. This suggests that cell size and elemental stoichiometry are promising ecophysiological traits for modelling and tracking changes in phytoplankton community structure in response to climate change. In turn, these changes are expected to have further impacts on phytoplankton community structure through as yet poorly understood secondary processes associated with trophic dynamics.

Corresponding editor: William Li


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