Wildfires enhance phytoplankton production in tropical oceans

Dongyan Liu; Chongran Zhou; John K Keesing; Oscar Serrano; Axel Werner; Yin Fang; Yingjun Chen; Pere Masque; Janine Kinloch; Aleksey Sadekov; Yan Du

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29013-0

Wildfires enhance phytoplankton production in tropical oceans

Nat Commun. 2022 Mar 15;13(1):1348. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29013-0.

Authors

Dongyan Liu¹, Chongran Zhou², John K Keesing³, Oscar Serrano^{4

5}, Axel Werner⁴, Yin Fang⁶, Yingjun Chen⁷, Pere Masque^{4

8

9}, Janine Kinloch¹⁰, Aleksey Sadekov¹¹, Yan Du¹²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China. dyliu@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
³ CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Research, and University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, Crawley, WA, Australia. john.keesing@csiro.au.
⁴ School of Science and Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
⁵ Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Blanes, Spain.
⁶ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China.
⁷ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China. yjchenfd@fudan.edu.cn.
⁸ Departament de Física and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
⁹ International Atomic Energy Agency, 4a Quai Antoine 1er, 98000, Principality of Monaco, Monaco.
¹⁰ Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Bentley Delivery Centre, Bentley, WA, Australia.
¹¹ Ocean Graduate School, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
¹² State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Wildfire magnitude and frequency have greatly escalated on a global scale. Wildfire products rich in biogenic elements can enter the ocean through atmospheric and river inputs, but their contribution to marine phytoplankton production is poorly understood. Here, using geochemical paleo-reconstructions, a century-long relationship between wildfire magnitude and marine phytoplankton production is established in a fire-prone region of Kimberley coast, Australia. A positive correlation is identified between wildfire and phytoplankton production on a decadal scale. The importance of wildfire on marine phytoplankton production is statistically higher than that of tropical cyclones and rainfall, when strong El Niño Southern Oscillation coincides with the positive phase of Indian Ocean Dipole. Interdecadal chlorophyll-a variation along the Kimberley coast validates the spatial connection of this phenomenon. Findings from this study suggest that the role of additional nutrients from wildfires has to be considered when projecting impacts of global warming on marine phytoplankton production.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chlorophyll A
El Nino-Southern Oscillation
Indian Ocean
Oceans and Seas
Phytoplankton*
Wildfires*

Substances

Chlorophyll A