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Temperature dependence of planktonic metabolism in the ocean
Author(s) -
RegaudiedeGioux A.,
Duarte C. M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/2010gb003907
Subject(s) - plankton , context (archaeology) , global warming , environmental science , respiration , ecology , effects of global warming on oceans , photosynthesis , energy flow , oceanography , energy metabolism , biology , climate change , geology , physics , energy (signal processing) , botany , paleontology , quantum mechanics , endocrinology
Standard metabolic theory predicts that both respiration and photosynthesis should increase with increasing temperature, albeit at different rates. However, test of this prediction for ocean planktonic communities is limited, despite the broad consequences of this prediction in the present context of global ocean warming. We compiled a large data set on volumetric planktonic metabolism in the open ocean and tested the relationship between specific metabolic rates and water temperature. The relationships derived are consistent with predictions derived from metabolic theory of ecology, yielding activation energy for planktonic metabolism consistent with predictions from the metabolic theory. These relationships can be used to predict the effect of warming on ocean metabolism and, thus, the role of planktonic communities in the flow of carbon in the global ocean.