| 11 Jun 2026
Spatial patterns in phytoplankton community composition and their influence on carbon export on the northwest Weddell Sea continental shelf
Abstract. Typically, diatoms, haptophytes, and cryptophytes dominate phytoplankton biomass and abundance in the Southern Ocean, determining bloom dynamics and carbon transfer and respond to physical factors such as sea ice concentration and mixing. However, phytoplankton community composition remains understudied in many regions of the Southern Ocean. Here, we present pigment-based phytoplankton community-composition data from a summer cruise to the northwest Weddell Sea continental shelf. To our knowledge, these are the only pigment-based community composition data from this key region for deep-water formation and carbon transport. Taken together, the relative biomass of the three dominant phytoplankton groups (39.7% diatoms, 30.2% haptophytes, and 14.9% cryptophytes) explain the majority (R2 = 0.37 – 0.82) of carbon export to 150 m. These findings highlight the need to consider frequently overlooked phytoplankton types, alongside diatoms, in Southern Ocean models of carbon export due to the key, but differing, roles these groups play in production-export dynamics.
Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors is a member of the editorial board of Ocean Science.
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