Coccolithophores and diatoms resilient to ocean alkalinity enhancement: A glimpse of hope?
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37315127.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adg6066 and PMC identifier 10266724.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
It is increasingly apparent that adequately mitigating anthropogenic climate interference will require ocean carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies. Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is an abiotic ocean CDR approach that aims to increase the ocean's CO<sub>2</sub> uptake capacity through the dispersal of pulverized mineral or dissolved alkali into the surface ocean. However, OAE's effect on marine biota is largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the impacts of moderate (~700 μmol kg<sup>-1</sup>) and high (~2700 μmol kg<sup>-1</sup>) limestone-inspired alkalinity additions on two biogeochemically and ecologically important phytoplankton functional group representatives: <i>Emiliania huxleyi</i> (calcium carbonate producer) and <i>Chaetoceros</i> sp. (silica producer). The growth rate and elemental ratios of both taxa showed a neutral response to limestone-inspired alkalinization. While our results are encouraging, we also observed abiotic mineral precipitation, which removed nutrients and alkalinity from solution. Our findings offer an evaluation of biogeochemical and physiological responses to OAE and provide evidence supporting the need for continued research into how OAE strategies affect marine ecosystems.
Medical subject headings
- Diatoms