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Effects of rising temperature on pelagic biogeochemistry in mesocosm systems: a comparative analysis of the AQUASHIFT Kiel experiments

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Abstract

A comparative analysis of data, obtained during four indoor-mesocosm experiments with natural spring plankton communities from the Baltic Sea, was conducted to investigate whether biogeochemical cycling is affected by an increase in water temperature of up to 6 °C above present-day conditions. In all experiments, warming stimulated in particular heterotrophic bacterial processes and had an accelerating effect on the temporal development of phytoplankton blooms. This was also mirrored in the build-up and partitioning of organic matter between particulate and dissolved phases. Thus, warming increased both the magnitude and rate of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) build-up, whereas the accumulation of particulate organic carbon (POC) and phosphorus (POP) decreased with rising temperature. In concert, the observed temperature-mediated changes in biogeochemical components suggest strong shifts in the functioning of marine pelagic food webs and the ocean’s biological carbon pump, hence providing potential feedback mechanisms to Earth’s climate system.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank A. Ludwig, N. Händel and P. Fritsche for their technical assistance in sample preparation and analysis. All members of the Kiel AQUASHIFT-team are appreciated for their help during the experiments. We are particularly grateful to E. Zöllner and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant no. RI 598/2-3 to U. R. and A. E. and by the Helmholtz Association (contract no. HZ-NG-102 to A. E.).

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Author notes

  1. Julia Wohlers-Zöllner

    Present address: University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

  2. Petra Dörge

    Present address: University Medical Centre Schleswig–Holstein (UKSH), Kiel, Germany

  3. Anja Engel

    Present address: Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany

    Julia Wohlers-Zöllner, Antje Biermann, Petra Dörge, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska & Ulf Riebesell

  2. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Science, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Anja Engel

  3. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany

    Markus von Scheibner

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  1. Julia Wohlers-Zöllner
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Correspondence to Julia Wohlers-Zöllner.

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Wohlers-Zöllner, J., Biermann, A., Engel, A. et al. Effects of rising temperature on pelagic biogeochemistry in mesocosm systems: a comparative analysis of the AQUASHIFT Kiel experiments. Mar Biol 159, 2503–2518 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1958-x

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