The influence of environmental variability on the biogeography of coccolithophores and diatoms in the Great Calcite Belt

The Great Calcite Belt (GCB), a region of high calcite concentration from coccolithophores, covers 60 % of the Southern Ocean area. We examined the influence of temperature, macronutrients, and carbonate chemistry on the distribution of mineralizing phytoplankton in the GCB. Coccolithophores occupy a niche in the Southern Ocean after the diatom spring bloom depletes silicic acid. No single environmental variable holds a dominant influence over phytoplankton biogeography in summer GCB conditions.

https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4905/2017/