近日，瑞典自然历史博物馆Sam M. Slater等研究人员发现，全球"幽灵"超微化石的记录揭示浮游生物对高二氧化碳和变暖的适应性。这一研究成果发表在2022年5月19日出版的国际学术期刊《科学》上。

研究人员表示，预测海洋钙化生物将如何应对气候变化，主要依靠浮游植物的化石记录。在过去的几次全球变暖事件中，碳酸钙（CaCO₃）的减少和浮游生物化石的丰度被解释为由海洋酸化和相关因素引起的生物钙化危机。

研究人员提出了一个与这种观点相反的全球印记或"幽灵"超微化石记录，揭示了在推断的侏罗纪生物钙化危机中保存完好的浮游植物。来自另外两个白垩纪气候变暖事件的印记证实，这些区间的化石记录已经被CaCO₃溶解所严重扭曲。尽管现今气候变化的速度超过了大多数化石记录的时间分辨率，使得与过去变暖事件的直接比较变得复杂，但这些发现表明，浮游动物对过去事件的适应性比传统的化石证据所表明的要强。

附：英文原文

Title: Global record of “ghost” nannofossils reveals plankton resilience to high CO2 and warming

Author: Sam M. Slater, Paul Bown, Richard J. Twitchett, Silvia Danise, Vivi Vajda

Issue&Volume: 2022-05-20

Abstract: Predictions of how marine calcifying organisms will respond to climate change rely heavily on the fossil record of nannoplankton. Declines in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and nannofossil abundance through several past global warming events have been interpreted as biocalcification crises caused by ocean acidification and related factors. We present a global record of imprint—or “ghost”—nannofossils that contradicts this view, revealing exquisitely preserved nannoplankton throughout an inferred Jurassic biocalcification crisis. Imprints from two further Cretaceous warming events confirm that the fossil records of these intervals have been strongly distorted by CaCO3 dissolution. Although the rapidity of present-day climate change exceeds the temporal resolution of most fossil records, complicating direct comparison with past warming events, our findings demonstrate that nannoplankton were more resilient to past events than traditional fossil evidence suggests.

DOI: abm7330

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm7330