Abstract
Wildfire magnitude and frequency have greatly escalated on a global scale. Wildfire products rich in biogenic elements can enter the ocean through atmospheric and river inputs, but their contribution to marine phytoplankton production is poorly understood. Here, using geochemical paleo-reconstructions, a century-long relationship between wildfire magnitude and marine phytoplankton production is established in a fire-prone region of Kimberley coast, Australia. A positive correlation is identified between wildfire and phytoplankton production on a decadal scale. The importance of wildfire on marine phytoplankton production is statistically higher than that of tropical cyclones and rainfall, when strong El Niño Southern Oscillation coincides with the positive phase of Indian Ocean Dipole. Interdecadal chlorophyll-a variation along the Kimberley coast validates the spatial connection of this phenomenon. Findings from this study suggest that the role of additional nutrients from wildfires has to be considered when projecting impacts of global warming on marine phytoplankton production.
RAS ID
52351
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
12-1-2022
Volume
13
Issue
1
Funding Information
National Natural Science Foundation of China (42030402, 41876127), Western Australian Marine Sciences Institution (projects RYC2019-027073-I, 20213AT014), Australian Research Council LIEF Project (LE170100219).
PubMed ID
35292644
School
School of Science / Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research
Grant Number
ARC Number : LE170100219
Grant Link
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE170100219
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publisher
Nature
Comments
Liu, D., Zhou, C., Keesing, J. K., Serrano, O., Werner, A., Fang, Y., ... & Du, Y. (2022). Wildfires enhance phytoplankton production in tropical oceans. Nature Communications, 13 (1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29013-0