The microbial carbon pump and climate change

Author(s)

Nianzhi Jiao, Tingwei Luo, Quanrui Chen, Zhao Zhao, Xilin Xiao, Jihua Liu, Zhimin Jian, Shucheng Xie, Helmuth Thomas, Gerhard J Herndl, Ronald Benner, Micheal Gonsior, Feng Chen, Wei-Jun Cai, Carol Robinson

Abstract

The ocean has been a regulator of climate change throughout the history of Earth. One key mechanism is the mediation of the carbon reservoir by refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC), which can either be stored in the water column for centuries or released back into the atmosphere as CO

2 depending on the conditions. The RDOC is produced through a myriad of microbial metabolic and ecological processes known as the microbial carbon pump (MCP). Here, we review recent research advances in processes related to the MCP, including the distribution patterns and molecular composition of RDOC, links between the complexity of RDOC compounds and microbial diversity, MCP-driven carbon cycles across time and space, and responses of the MCP to a changing climate. We identify knowledge gaps and future research directions in the role of the MCP, particularly as a key component in integrated approaches combining the mechanisms of the biological and abiotic carbon pumps for ocean negative carbon emissions.

Organisation(s)

Functional and Evolutionary Ecology

External organisation(s)

UN Global ONCE joint focal points, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Tongji University, China University of Geosciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, University of Delaware, Xiamen University, University of South Carolina, Columbia, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, University of East Anglia, Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH

Journal

Nature Reviews. Microbiology

ISSN

1740-1526

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01018-0

Publication date

2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106021 Marine biology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Microbiology(all), Microbiology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 14 - Life Below Water, SDG 13 - Climate Action

Portal url

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-microbial-carbon-pump-and-climate-change(1419a7a0-f0ee-47e8-9296-0db3fb248f8a).html