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Science 10 September 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5690, pp. 1609 - 1612
DOI: 10.1126/science.1100958
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Reports

Climate Impact on Plankton Ecosystems in the Northeast Atlantic

Anthony J. Richardson1* and David S. Schoeman2

It is now widely accepted that global warming is occurring, yet its effects on the world's largest ecosystem, the marine pelagic realm, are largely unknown. We show that sea surface warming in the Northeast Atlantic is accompanied by increasing phytoplankton abundance in cooler regions and decreasing phytoplankton abundance in warmer regions. This impact propagates up the food web (bottom-up control) through copepod herbivores to zooplankton carnivores because of tight trophic coupling. Future warming is therefore likely to alter the spatial distribution of primary and secondary pelagic production, affecting ecosystem services and placing additional stress on already-depleted fish and mammal populations.

1 Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK.
2 Department of Zoology, University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: anr{at}sahfos.ac.uk

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