Coherent change in multiyear trends of chlorophyll and bacterioplankton

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The effects of climate variability and change on pelagic marine ecosystems are often sought as a signal propagated from primary producers to secondary producers. Yet the space and time scales of direct interaction between phytoplankton and other parts of the food web are much smaller than those of climatic drivers. A question arises whether trophic linkage can be discerned at multiyear scale. We demonstrate from regional studies in the North Atlantic that multiyear changes in chlorophyll concentration are accompanied by dampened changes in bacterioplankton abundance. The coherent departure from norm, both positively and negatively, of both microbial primary and secondary producers is consistent with a directed system level change.