Fig. 1: The ecosystems that met our selection criteria for high quality size spectra spanned the full range of pelagic habitats.

Ecosystems (a) are mapped67 and numbered in order of increasing mean surface Chl a concentration, with more sampling information provided in Supplementary Table 1. Positions marked refer to centre-point geographical positions in instances where station results have been averaged over biomes (e.g. within the mid-Atlantic). b Warm water tropical ecosystems were characterised by low Chl a values, whereas values were more varied in the higher latitude, cooler water ecosystems. Station numbers correspond to a. Ecosystem number 2 (Lake Limnopolar, Antarctica; denoted by white circle in a and b) met our selection criteria but was excluded from further analysis due to its outlier status (see main text and Supplementary Fig. 1c, d). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.