There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Biological production of the volatile compound dimethylsulfide in the ocean is the
main natural source of tropospheric sulfur on a global scale, with important consequences
for the radiative balance of the Earth. In the late 1980s, a Gaian feedback link between
marine phytoplankton and climate through the release of atmospheric sulfur was hypothesized.
However, the idea of microalgae producing a substance that could regulate climate
has been criticized on the basis of its evolutionary feasibility. Recent advances
have shown that volatile sulfur is a result of ecological interactions and transformation
processes through planktonic food webs. It is, therefore, not only phytoplankton biomass,
taxonomy or activity, but also food-web structure and dynamics that drive the oceanic
production of atmospheric sulfur. Accordingly, the viewpoint on the ecological and
evolutionary basis of this amazing marine biota-atmosphere link is changing.