Process controlling iron-manganese regulation of the Southern Ocean biological carbon pump.



Anugerahanti, Prima and Tagliabue, Alessandro
(2023) Process controlling iron-manganese regulation of the Southern Ocean biological carbon pump. Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 381 (2249). p. 20220065.

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Abstract

Iron (Fe) is a key limiting nutrient driving the biological carbon pump and is routinely represented in global ocean biogeochemical models. However, in the Southern Ocean, the potential role for other micronutrients has not received the same attention. For example, although manganese (Mn) is essential to photosynthetic oxygen production and combating oxidative stress, it is not included in ocean models and a clear understanding of its interaction with Fe in the region is lacking. This is especially important for the Southern Ocean because both Mn and Fe are strongly depleted. We use a hierarchical modelling approach to explore how the physiological traits associated with Fe and Mn contribute to driving the footprint of micronutrient stress across different phytoplankton functional types (PFTs). We find that PFT responses are driven by physiological traits associated with their physiological requirements and acclimation to environmental conditions. Southern Ocean-specific adaptations to prevailing low Fe, such as large photosynthetic antenna sizes, are of major significance for the regional biological carbon pump. Other traits more strongly linked to Mn, such as dealing with oxidative stress, may become more important under a changing Fe supply regime. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean: the state of the art and future priorities'.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: co-limitation, biogeochemical model, micronutrients
Divisions: Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 15 May 2023 08:07
Last Modified: 31 May 2023 17:42
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2022.0065
Open Access URL: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rst...
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3170355