More Algae: Coccolithophorids & Climate Change

Coccolithophorid - A Haptophyte Algae
Source: http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/naturelibrary/images/ic/credit/640x395/c/co/coccolithophore/coccolithophore_1.jpg

More of my beautiful green beasties... Algae!!!

A John Hopkins University Scientist has found a deifying correlation between carbon dioxide (CO2) and the abundance of the Coccolithophore population in the North Atlantic. Coccolithophorids are characterized by special calcium carbonate plates (sometimes called scales) of uncertain function called coccoliths. However, not all organisms within the Family Prymnesiophyceae are coccolithores, as there are some species that lack coccoliths (e.g. Prymnesium). 


According to ScienceDaily report: Increased carbon dioxide enhances plankton growth, opposite of what was expected

Coccolithophores--tiny calcifying plants that are part of the foundation of the marine food web--have been increasing in relative abundance in the North Atlantic over the last 45 years, as carbon input into ocean waters has increased. Their relative abundance has increased 10 times, or by an order of magnitude, during this sampling period. This finding was diametrically opposed to what scientists had expected since coccolithophores make their plates out of calcium carbonate, which is becoming more difficult as the ocean becomes more acidic and pH is reduced.
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When the percentage of coccolithophores in the community goes up, the relative abundance of other groups will go down. The authors found that at local scales, the relative abundance of another important algal class, diatoms, had decreased over the 45 years of sampling.

And in another ScienceDaily report: Rapid plankton growth in ocean seen as sign of carbon dioxide loading

"Coccolithophores have been typically more abundant during Earth's warm interglacial and high CO₂ periods," said Balch, an authority on the algae. "The results presented here are consistent with this and may portend, like the 'canary in the coal mine,' where we are headed climatologically."
[...]
"What is worrisome," he said, "is that our result points out how little we know about how complex ecosystems function."

Yes, the garden of ocean life is changing in response to climate change... the question really being: what does it mean? At this point, to my knowledge, all we really know is that the changes are occurring faster than scientific prediction modeling and at a rate that is unlike what our historic records indicate, leading many scientists to continued concern of the impact of global emissions and the future of Earth's resources.

Considering that the UN Conferences on Climate Change has begun in Paris today, it will be interesting to see what becomes of our legislated requirements as governments argue the value of economics over the stability of our planet. Will this newly published information be part of the discussion? We shall see in the next two weeks.