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. 2022 Sep 16;8(37):eabn2465.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abn2465. Epub 2022 Sep 14.

Global seaweed productivity

Albert Pessarrodona  1 , Jorge Assis  2 , Karen Filbee-Dexter  1   3 , Michael T Burrows  4 , Jean-Pierre Gattuso  5   6 , Carlos M Duarte  7   8 , Dorte Krause-Jensen  8   9 , Pippa J Moore  10 , Dan A Smale  11 , Thomas Wernberg  1   3   12
Affiliations

Global seaweed productivity

Albert Pessarrodona et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

The magnitude and distribution of net primary production (NPP) in the coastal ocean remains poorly constrained, particularly for shallow marine vegetation. Here, using a compilation of in situ annual NPP measurements across >400 sites in 72 geographic ecoregions, we provide global predictions of the productivity of seaweed habitats, which form the largest vegetated coastal biome on the planet. We find that seaweed NPP is strongly coupled to climatic variables, peaks at temperate latitudes, and is dominated by forests of large brown seaweeds. Seaweed forests exhibit exceptionally high per-area production rates (a global average of 656 and 1711 gC m-2 year-1 in the subtidal and intertidal, respectively), being up to 10 times higher than coastal phytoplankton in temperate and polar seas. Our results show that seaweed NPP is a strong driver of production in the coastal ocean and call for its integration in the oceanic carbon cycle, where it has traditionally been overlooked.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Global distribution of NPP from seaweed vegetation.
Globally predicted NPP of subtidal (A) and intertidal (B) seaweed forests dominated by large brown canopy-forming algae and (C) subtidal algal turfs. Points show the location of the study sites included in our database (raw NPP is indicated by the colored dots). Lines depict the tropics (straight) and polar circles (dashed).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Relative contribution (%) and threshold of climate and methodological variables used to predict NPP.
(A) Intertidal and (B) subtidal seaweed forests formed by large brown algae and (C) algal turfs. Dashed lines depict contributions >5%. Note that light was not included as a predictor for the intertidal seaweed forest model. PSU, Practical Salinity Units.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Relationship between subtidal seaweed forest and coastal phytoplankton productivity (gC m−2 year−1) across the world’s marine ecoregions.
The ratio indicates the relative magnitude between subtidal seaweed forest and coastal phytoplankton per-area NPP, with positive ratios indicating seaweed forest NPP being greater. The ratio of ecoregions where NPP of marine forests or phytoplankton was not available is not shown. Lines indicate the tropics and polar circles.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.. Relationship between latitude and NPP across Earth’s major primary producers.
Lines depict the smoothed modeled mean. Terrestrial forest NPP includes above- and belowground productivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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