Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Plankton Communities

Ocean acidification, driven by the absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide into seawater, is altering the carbonate chemistry of the world’s oceans, leading to lower pH and reduced carbonate ion availability. Marine plankton communities, which underpin global food webs and biogeochemical cycles, are especially sensitive to these changes. Phytoplankton groups respond differentially: calcifying taxa such as coccolithophores often show reduced growth and shell formation under lower pH, while small, non-calcifying picoeukaryotes and certain cyanobacteria may gain a competitive advantage. Acidification also influences the microbial loop by altering bacterial community composition and nutrient recycling, with consequences for energy transfer efficiency to higher trophic levels. Shifts in plankton composition can in turn affect carbon export to the deep ocean, fishery yields and the resilience of marine ecosystems to ongoing climate change.

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Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Plankton Communities publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in impacts of ocean acidification on marine plankton communities across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ocean acidification: The process by which increased absorption of atmospheric CO₂ by seawater lowers pH and alters carbonate chemistry.

Mesocosm: A controlled experimental enclosure used to simulate natural marine conditions while allowing manipulation of environmental factors.

Microbial loop: A pathway in aquatic food webs where dissolved organic matter is recycled by heterotrophic microbes, linking bacteria to higher trophic levels.

pH: A measure of hydrogen ion concentration in seawater; lower pH indicates higher acidity.

Calcifying plankton: Planktonic organisms, such as coccolithophores, that produce calcium carbonate structures sensitive to changes in carbonate ion availability.

References

1. Global change alters coastal plankton food webs by promoting the microbial loop: An inverse modelling and network analysis approach on a mesocosm experiment. The Science of The Total Environment (2024).
2. Responses of Free-Living Planktonic Bacterial Communities to Experimental Acidification and Warming. Microorganisms (2023).
3. Influence of Ocean Acidification and Deep Water Upwelling on Oligotrophic Plankton Communities in the Subtropical North Atlantic: Insights from an In situ Mesocosm Study. Frontiers in Marine Science (2017).