Accumulation of anthropogenic CO 2 is significantly altering ocean chemistry. A range of biological impacts resulting from this oceanic CO 2 accumulation are emerging, however, the mechanisms responsible for observed differential susceptibility between organisms and across environmental settings remain obscure. A primary consequence of increased oceanic CO 2 uptake is a decrease in the carbonate system buffer capacity, which c...

Following earlier data suggesting a decoupling between coccolithophore abundance and its suggested proxy, particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), we investigated this relationship in the Bay of Biscay (northwest European shelf), between December 2009 and July 2010. Coccolithophore abundance, coccolith calcite, and PIC were determined in surface waters (5‐m depth) along a transect crossing the Bay. Emiliania huxleyi was the most ab...

It has been hypothesized that phosphate limitation, classically indicated by NO 3 : PO 4 ratios >16, is one of the critical factors allowing the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi to bloom. This hypothesis is based on physiological studies showing that E. huxleyi has an exceptionally high affinity for orthophosphate and is able to use organic phosphate. Indeed, E. huxleyi has been found to bloom at high NO 3 : PO 4 ratios in s...