2020/01/11 by Elvire Bestion, Samuel Barton, Francisca C. García +2 · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Marine and coastal ecosystems
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/ele.13444
openalex publication_date 2020/01/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
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 variability. As species were lost from the communities, the probability of taxa remaining that could tolerate warming diminished, resulting in abrupt declines in ecosystem production. Our results highlight the potential for synergistic effects of warming and biodiversity loss on marine primary production.