Emergent patterns of patchiness differ between physical and planktonic properties in the ocean

While a rich history of patchiness research has explored spatial structure in the ocean, there is no consensus over the controls on biological patchiness and how physical-ecological-biogeochemical processes and patchiness relate. The prevailing thought is that physics structures biology, but this has not been tested at basin scale with consistent in situ measurements. Here we use the slope of the relationship between variance vs spatial scale to quantify patchiness and ~650,000 nearly continuous (dx ~ 200 m) measurements - representing the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans - and find that patchiness of biological parameters and physical parameters are uncorrelated. We show variance slope is an emergent property with unique patterns in biogeochemical properties distinct from physical tracers, yet correlated with other biological tracers. These results provide context for decades of observations with different interpretations, suggest the use of spatial tests of biogeochemical model parameterizations, and open the way for studies into processes regulating the observed patterns.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-02-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56794-x
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.38

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article

Emergent patterns of patchiness differ between physical and planktonic properties in the ocean

Yoav Lehahn, Emmanuelle Petit, Gabriel Gorsky, Hans‐Joachim Ruscheweyh et al.
3 citations
Nature Communications
Marine and coastal ecosystems
5.38
article

Emergent patterns of patchiness differ between physical and planktonic properties in the ocean

Yoav Lehahn, Emmanuelle Petit, Gabriel Gorsky, Hans‐Joachim Ruscheweyh, J. Michel Flores, Stéphanie Reynaud, Benjamin Noël, Eric Armstrong, María Miguel-Gordo, John R. Dolan, Patrick Wincker, Karine Labadie, Pierre E. Galand, Julie Poulain, Alice Rouan, S. Pesant, Dominique Marie, Gilles Reverdin, Maren Ziegler, L. Guidi, Naama Lang‐Yona, Ilan Koren, C. Bowler, Shinichi Sunagawa, Paola Furla, Caroline Belser, Alexandre Ottaviani, Sylvain Agostini, Assaf Vardi, Natalie R. Cohen, Ronny Friedrich, Pascal Conan, Nils Haëntjens, Nadir Djerbi, Claudia Pogoreutz, Patrick Gray, Guillaume Bourdin, Quentin Carradec, D. R. Cronin, A Bourdais, Till Röthig, Jonathan Filée, Olivier P. Thomas, L. Karp-Boss, Serge Planes, Colomban de Vargas, Julie Lê-Hoang, Didier Forcioli, Rémi Laxenaire, Miri Trainic, Thamilla Zamoum, Mireille Pujo‐Pay, Rodolphe Lemée, Clémentine Moulin, M. Hertau, Didier Zoccola, Emmanuel Boss, Lucas Paoli, Jianghui Du, D. Couet, Sarah Romac, Jean‐Marc Aury, M. Moll, Romain Troublé, M. B. Sullivan, Yajuan Lin, Éric Douville, J. Schramm, Nicolas Cassar, Rachel L. Kelly, Benjamin C. C. Hume, Tomasz Linkowski, Corentin Hochart, Éric Béraud, Denis Allemand, Nicolas Henry, Maria Luiza Pedrotti, Guillem Salazar, Émilie Boissin, Seth G. John, Ophélie Da Silva, Éric Röttinger, Yoshinori KITANO, Christian Robert Voolstra, Grace Klinges, Etienne Bourgois, Éric Gilson, Sophie Sanchez-Brosseau, Joël Lancelot, Jean François Ghiglione, Guillaume Iwankow, E. Catafort, R. Vega-Thunder, A. Zahed, E. Mayeux, B. Banaig, E. Bonnival, G. Dominguez Herta, M. Guinther, D. Ludicone, R. McMind, D. Monmarche, Y. Mucherie
article en
3 citations

Abstract

While a rich history of patchiness research has explored spatial structure in the ocean, there is no consensus over the controls on biological patchiness and how physical-ecological-biogeochemical processes and patchiness relate. The prevailing thought is that physics structures biology, but this has not been tested at basin scale with consistent in situ measurements. Here we use the slope of the relationship between variance vs spatial scale to quantify patchiness and ~650,000 nearly continuous (dx ~ 200 m) measurements - representing the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans - and find that patchiness of biological parameters and physical parameters are uncorrelated. We show variance slope is an emergent property with unique patterns in biogeochemical properties distinct from physical tracers, yet correlated with other biological tracers. These results provide context for decades of observations with different interpretations, suggest the use of spatial tests of biogeochemical model parameterizations, and open the way for studies into processes regulating the observed patterns.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Southern California (US), SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (CH), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Oregon State University (US), University of Tsukuba (JP), Université de Perpignan (FR), Ifremer (FR), Inserm (FR), École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR), Université de Bretagne Occidentale (FR), Duke University (US), University of Bremen (DE), Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway (IE), University of Konstanz (DE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE), Université Côte d'Azur (FR), University of Derby (GB), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Station Biologique de Roscoff (FR), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT), ETH Zurich (CH), Sorbonne Université (FR), Centre de Gestion Scientifique (FR), Évolution, Génomes, Comportement, Écologie (FR), Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR), Genoscope (FR), Adaptation et Diversité en Milieu Marin (FR), Institut de Recherche sur le Cancer et le Vieillissement de Nice (FR), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (FR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (DE), Scientific Centre of Monaco (MC), Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer (FR), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (FR), Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (FR), Laboratoire d'Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques (FR), Laboratoire de Géologie de l’École Normale Supérieure (FR), Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (FR), Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (FR), The Ohio State University (US), Weizmann Institute of Science (IL), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US), University of Maine (US), University of Haifa (IL)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ocean Foundation, L'Oreal USA, Capgemini, European Bioinformatics Institute, Fondation Tara Océan, Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Région Bretagne, Fondation EDF, Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial, Office Français de la Biodiversité
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Marine and coastal ecosystems
5.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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