IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v439y2006i7074d10.1038_nature04245.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reduced mixing generates oscillations and chaos in the oceanic deep chlorophyll maximum

Author

Listed:
  • Jef Huisman

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Nga N. Pham Thi

    (Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI))

  • David M. Karl

    (University of Hawaii)

  • Ben Sommeijer

    (Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI))

Abstract

Green-belt development In many parts of the oceans a layer known as a ‘deep chlorophyll maximum’ develops about 50 to 100 metres below the surface as various opposing forces achieve a balance. Phytoplankton sinking from surface waters and taking nutrients with them meet an upward flux of nutrients fuelling new growth at a depth where there is still sufficient light. These chlorophyll-rich layers play an important role in ocean productivity. A new study shows that reduced vertical mixing can induce oscillations and chaos in phytoplankton biomass and species composition in deep chlorophyll maxima via a mismatch in the time scales of the processes that create them. This runs counter to the widely held belief that deep chlorophyll maxima are stable features that track seasonal changes in light and nutrient conditions. Climate change scenarios predict that global warming will suppress vertical mixing in the oceans: this could destabilize the phytoplankton dynamics in the deep chlorophyll maximum, with implications for oceanic primary production, phytoplankton species composition, and carbon export.

Suggested Citation

  • Jef Huisman & Nga N. Pham Thi & David M. Karl & Ben Sommeijer, 2006. "Reduced mixing generates oscillations and chaos in the oceanic deep chlorophyll maximum," Nature, Nature, vol. 439(7074), pages 322-325, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:439:y:2006:i:7074:d:10.1038_nature04245
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04245
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04245
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature04245?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Zhi-bin & Liu, Shu-tang & Tian, Da-dong & Wang, Da, 2021. "Stability analysis of the plankton community with advection," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Shen, Anglu & Gao, Shufei & Heggerud, Christopher M. & Wang, Hao & Ma, Zengling & Yuan, Sanling, 2023. "Fluctuation of growth and photosynthetic characteristics in Prorocentrum shikokuense under phosphorus limitation: Evidence from field and laboratory," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 479(C).
    3. Fasma Diele & Carmela Marangi, 2019. "Geometric Numerical Integration in Ecological Modelling," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-30, December.
    4. Withrow, Frances G. & Roelke, Daniel L. & Muhl, Rika M.W. & Bhattacharyya, Joydeb, 2018. "Water column processes differentially influence richness and diversity of neutral, lumpy and intransitive phytoplankton assemblages," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 370(C), pages 22-32.
    5. Serizawa, Hiroshi & Amemiya, Takashi & Itoh, Kiminori, 2010. "Effects of buoyancy, transparency and zooplankton feeding on surface maxima and deep maxima: Comprehensive mathematical model for vertical distribution in cyanobacterial biomass," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(17), pages 2028-2037.
    6. Chuanjun Dai & Hengguo Yu & Qing Guo & He Liu & Qi Wang & Zengling Ma & Min Zhao, 2019. "Dynamics Induced by Delay in a Nutrient-Phytoplankton Model with Multiple Delays," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-16, February.
    7. Bouderbala, Ilhem & El Saadi, Nadjia & Bah, Alassane & Auger, Pierre, 2019. "A simulation study on how the resource competition and anti-predator cooperation impact the motile-phytoplankton groups’ formation under predation stress," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 391(C), pages 16-28.
    8. Sudakov, Ivan & Vakulenko, Sergey A. & Bruun, John T., 2022. "Stochastic physics of species extinctions in a large population," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 585(C).
    9. Urtizberea, Agurtzane & Dupont, Nicolas & Rosland, Rune & Aksnes, Dag L., 2013. "Sensitivity of euphotic zone properties to CDOM variations in marine ecosystem models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 256(C), pages 16-22.
    10. Löptien, Ulrike, 2011. "Steady states and sensitivities of commonly used pelagic ecosystem model components," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(8), pages 1376-1386.
    11. Roy, Shovonlal, 2009. "The coevolution of two phytoplankton species on a single resource: Allelopathy as a pseudo-mixotrophy," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 68-75.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:439:y:2006:i:7074:d:10.1038_nature04245. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.