Open AccessNanoplanktonic diatoms are globally overlooked but play a role in spring blooms and carbon export
Author(s) -
Karine Leblanc,
Bernard Quéguiner,
Frédéric Diaz,
Valérie Cornet,
Mónica Michel-Rodriguez,
Xavier Durrieu de Madron,
Chris Bowler,
Shruti Malviya,
Mélilotus Thyssen,
Gérald Grégori,
Mathieu Rembauville,
Olivier Grosso,
Julie Poulain,
Colomban de Vargas,
Mireille PujoPay,
Pascal Conan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
nature communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.559
H-Index - 365
ISSN - 2041-1723
DOI - 10.1038/s41467-018-03376-9
Subject(s) - diatom , oceanography , bloom , algal bloom , environmental science , trophic level , phytoplankton , mediterranean sea , ecology , biology , mediterranean climate , geology , nutrient
Diatoms are one of the major primary producers in the ocean, responsible annually for ~20% of photosynthetically fixed CO 2 on Earth. In oceanic models, they are typically represented as large (>20 µm) microphytoplankton. However, many diatoms belong to the nanophytoplankton (2–20 µm) and a few species even overlap with the picoplanktonic size-class (<2 µm). Due to their minute size and difficulty of detection they are poorly characterized. Here we describe a massive spring bloom of the smallest known diatom ( Minidiscus ) in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Analysis of Tara Oceans data, together with literature review, reveal a general oversight of the significance of these small diatoms at the global scale. We further evidence that they can reach the seafloor at high sinking rates, implying the need to revise our classical binary vision of pico- and nanoplanktonic cells fueling the microbial loop, while only microphytoplankton sustain secondary trophic levels and carbon export.