Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950 - Scientific American

Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950: Scientific American 1/9/11 7:46 PM
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Phytoplankton Population Drops The US economy relies on a
guaranteed supply of
40 Percent Since 1950 energy. What steps should
Researchers find trouble among phytoplankton, the the US government take to
base of the food chain, which has implications for the help secure national energy
marine food web and the world's carbon cycle
supply? (Click all that apply,
By Lauren Morello and ClimateWire | July 29, 2010 | and please contribute to
48 the conversation in the
comments below)
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Wind energy
The microscopic plants that Biofuels development
form the foundation of the
ocean's food web are Solar power
declining, reports a study Capturing carbon and
published July 29 in Nature. storing it underground
The tiny organisms, known Boosting the
as phytoplankton, also production of oil from
gobble up carbon dioxide to existing reservoirs
produce half the world's Nuclear power
oxygen output—equaling that Image: Photo courtesy of
Nikon Small World
of trees and plants on land. technology
Supplemental Material Other
But their numbers have The US economy relies on a
dwindled since the dawn of
the 20th century, with guaranteed supply of
unknown consequences for energy. What steps should
ocean ecosystems and the the US government take to
planet's carbon cycle. Overview help secure national energy
Tiny
file:///Users/michaelprior/Desktop/Phytoplankton%20Population%20Drops%2040%20Percent%20Since%201950:%20Scientific%20American.webarchive Page 1 of 9
planet's carbon cycle. Overview help secure national energy

Tiny supply? (Click all that apply,
Organisms
Researchers at Canada's Provide and please contribute to
Dalhousie University say the Power
global population of To Move the conversation in the
Oceans comments below)
phytoplankton has fallen
about 40 percent since 1950. Wind energy
That translates to an annual drop of about 1 percent of
the average plankton population between 1899 and Biofuels development
2008. Solar power
Capturing carbon and
The scientists believe that rising sea surface
temperatures are to blame. storing it underground
Boosting the
"It's very disturbing to think about the potential production of oil from
implications of a century-long decline of the base of the
food chain," said lead author Daniel Boyce, a marine existing reservoirs
ecologist. Nuclear power
technology
They include disruption to the marine food web and
effects on the world's carbon cycle. In addition to Other
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consuming CO2, phytoplankton can influence how much
heat is absorbed by the world's oceans, and some species
emit sulfate molecules that promote cloud formation.
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The study "makes a sorely needed contribution to our
knowledge of historical changes in the ocean biosphere," Hole's on First?: New
Evidence Shows Black
said David Siegel of the University of California, Santa Hole Growth Preceding
Barbara, and Bryan Franz of NASA in an essay, also Galactic Formation
published in Nature. News | 5 hours ago | 6
Cisco, GE and Xerox
"Their identification of a connection between long-term CEOs: Four challenges
global declines in phytoplankton biomass and increasing facing U.S. industry and
how to fix them
ocean temperatures does not portend well for [ocean] Observations |
ecosystems in a world that is likely to be warmer," they Jan 7, 2011 | 18
wrote. "Phytoplankton productivity is the base of the Climate Shifts Changing
food web, and all life in the sea depends on it." New Weather
"Normals"
Climatewire | Jan 7, 2011 |
Boyce said he and his co-authors began their study in an 10
attempt to get a clearer picture of how phytoplankton
were faring, given that earlier studies that relied on Show Most Read
satellite measurements produced conflicting results. Show Most Commented
Biggest declines at the poles
Biggest declines at the poles

The scientists dug back into the historical record, well
past 1997, the year continuous satellite measurements
began. They examined a half-million data points YES! Send me a free issue
of Scientific American with
collected using a tool called a Secchi disk, as well as no obligation to continue
measurements of chlorophyll—a pigment produced by the subscription. If I like it,
the plankton. I will be billed for the one-
year subscription.
The Secchi disk was developed in the 19th century by a
Jesuit astronomer, Father Pietro Angelo Secchi, when Email Address
the Papal navy asked him to map the transparency of the
Mediterranean Sea. Name
What Secchi produced was a dinner plate-sized white
disk that is lowered into ocean water until it cannot be Address 1
seen anymore. The depth it reaches before disappearing
gives a measure of water clarity. Address 2
That can be used as a proxy for phytoplankton City
population in a given area, since the tiny organisms live
close to the ocean's surface, where they are exposed to State
sunlight they use to produce energy.
Zip
Data gathered with a Secchi disk are roughly as accurate Continue
as observations collected by satellites, Boyce said,
although satellites have greater global reach.
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The researchers found the most notable phytoplankton More jobs from Naturejobs.com »
declines in waters near the poles and in the tropics, as
well as the open ocean. ADVERTISEMENT
They believe that rising sea temperatures are driving the

decline. As surface water warms, it tends to form a
distinct layer that does not mix well with cooler,
nutrient-rich water below, depriving phytoplankton of
some of the materials they need to turn CO2 and
sunlight into energy.
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1. drafter The way I read this article they used
02:41 PM 7/29/10 a Secchi disk to compare a half
million satellite points. If thats all
they did then how did they
determine plankton levels pre-
satillite days, mathmatical
interpretation won't do that. I find
the Secchi disk to require a lot of
personal interpretation because
there are far more factors than just
plankton affecting it's visibility.
maybe the original report explains
all that and this article is just way to
abridged to convince me of it's
decline. Is there a link to the
original findings.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
2. quincykim I tried the Nature article this is

03:42 PM 7/29/10 based on, but there's a paywall so
couldn't find references or links
available.
3. strngr12 drafter - They used Secchi disk

03:53 PM 7/29/10 records since the late 1800s until
satellite measurements became
available. In other words, they have
satellite measurements since the
1990s and used recorded Secchi
disk records to fill the gap back to
the late 1800s. The article also
stated that it has been shown that
Secchi disk measurements are
roughly as accurate as satellite
measurements.
4. strngr12 drafter - They used Secchi disk

03:54 PM 7/29/10 records since the late 1800s until
satellite measurements became
available. In other words, they have
satellite measurements since the
1990s and used recorded Secchi
disk records to fill the gap back to
the late 1800s. The article also
stated that it has been shown that
Secchi disk measurements are
roughly as accurate as satellite
measurements.
5. scientific You are not considering the impact

earthling of fishing.
08:47 PM 7/29/10 Phytoplankton are eaten by other
larger micro-organisms, which in
turn are eaten by fish, which are
eaten by larger fish. We take the
large fish, the population of the
small fish sky-rockets, they eat all
the food available lower down the
chain. Take out the top predator
and everything down the food chain
goes extinct - no population control.
Same rules apply to us. The bees
are also going, whose going to
fertilise every flower to get a grain
of wheat or whatever.
6. eogord There were times the oceans were

11:02 PM 7/29/10 warmer than now, and life on this
planet was thriving, plentiful and
evolving. Why is it more of a
problem now, as it seems to be,
7. fffff I'm a little skeptical of the proposed

12:09 AM 7/30/10explanation. Ocean temperatures
have risen by what, 1C? If the
plankton are so delicately fine-
tuned for a particular temperature,
how come seasonal temperature
variations don't wipe them out?
And what happened to their
population during other times of
seasonal flux (e.g. the so-called
seasonal flux (e.g. the so-called

"Little Ice Age"?)
Could it be something else that
people are doing to the ocean
(everyone's favorite Pacific garbage
patch, or agricultural runoff)
instead? Other poorly-understood
ocean cycles?
(Not trying to grind an axe here;
explanations as to why my
understanding and instincts on the
matter are wrong would be
welcome.)
8. fffff, doesn't the 1 C rise refer to

Sunkahetanka average ocean temperatures
03:38 AM 7/30/10worldwide? So seasonal variations
are subsumed within the average
rise.
Didn't the Little Ice Age affect only
the north Atlantic, the North Sea,
and maybe the Baltic Sea and
western continental Europe? Maybe
plankton populations did drop in
those areas then.
9. jtdwyer eogord, fffff - I'm also skeptical

in reply to fffff about ocean temperature being the
03:39 AM 7/30/10principle cause here. While the
average temperature may have risen
slightly, that change probably
doesn't approach the normal daily
and seasonal variability around the
Earth. Are there regular
summertime plankton die-offs as a
result of rising temperatures?
Curiously, the article states:
"Researchers at Canada's Dalhousie
University say the global population
of phytoplankton has fallen about
40 percent since 1950. That
translates to an annual drop of
about 1 percent of the average
plankton population between 1899
and 2008."
By what method of 'translation'
does a 40% population reduction
since 1950 infer an annual drop of
since 1950 infer an annual drop of

'about 1 percent' since 1899 -
straight line interpolation, rounded
to the nearest percent annualized?
Why not simply determine the
actual population decline since 1899
from the data?
10. Dimitris @jtdwyer

06:27 AM 7/30/10
If you have a 1% annual drop, you
have the sequence 100%, 99%,
98.1%, 97.1% etc. So, even though
you have a small, annual decline of
1%, over the years it builds up. If
you do the math, the figures are
quite right.
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Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950: Scientific American 1/9/11 7:46 PM

planet's carbon cycle. Overview help secure national energy

happen 10 years down the road."

Biggest declines at the poles

They believe that rising sea temperatures are driving the

Post a Comment | Read Comments (48)

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Anemic In Deep Geoengineering:

48 Comments Add Comment

2. quincykim I tried the Nature article this is

3. strngr12 drafter - They used Secchi disk

Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. strngr12 drafter - They used Secchi disk

5. scientific You are not considering the impact

6. eogord There were times the oceans were

7. fffff I'm a little skeptical of the proposed

seasonal flux (e.g. the so-called

8. fffff, doesn't the 1 C rise refer to

9. jtdwyer eogord, fffff - I'm also skeptical

since 1950 infer an annual drop of

10. Dimitris @jtdwyer

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