Biospheric Primary Production During an ENSO Transition

2001/03/30 by Michael J. Behrenfeld, James T. Randerson, Charles R. McClain +9 · 5 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Marine and coastal ecosystems #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Isotope Analysis in Ecology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1055071

openalex publication_date 2001/03/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) provides global monthly measurements of both oceanic phytoplankton chlorophyll biomass and light harvesting by land plants. These measurements allowed the comparison of simultaneous ocean and land net primary production (NPP) responses to a major El Niño to La Niña transition. Between September 1997 and August 2000, biospheric NPP varied by 6 petagrams of carbon per year (from 111 to 117 petagrams of carbon per year). Increases in ocean NPP were pronounced in tropical regions where El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impacts on upwelling and nutrient availability were greatest. Globally, land NPP did not exhibit a clear ENSO response, although regional changes were substantial.

Citations

• A mesoscale phytoplankton bloom in the polar Southern Ocean stimulated by iron fertilization
• Primary Production of the Biosphere: Integrating Terrestrial and Oceanic Components
• Terrestrial ecosystem production: A process model based on global satellite and surface data

Cited by

• Global phytoplankton decline over the past century
• Bridging ocean color observations of the 1980s and 2000s in search of long‐term trends
• Mesoscale eddies influence the movements of mature female white sharks in the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea
• Sensitivities of marine carbon fluxes to ocean change
• Phytoplankton [wikipedia]