南佛罗里达大学胡传民小组的一项最新研究提出了自2015年以来，马尾藻海北部马尾藻数量急剧下降。相关论文于2025年12月4日发表在《自然—地球科学》杂志上。
在这里，该研究团队将卫星和现场数据作为主题，显示自2015年以来，马尾藻海北部的马尾藻急剧减少。伴随这种下降的是当地马尾藻季节性生长周期的中断，即先前一致的秋季到冬季的北部马尾藻海生物量最大值已经转移到春季到夏季的峰值，与大大西洋马尾藻带的峰值相对应，这是后一区域平流的结果。课题组认为，北部马尾藻海的下降是由于墨西哥湾历史上的一个地区马尾藻供应减少，可能是由于墨西哥湾海面温度升高和海洋热浪更频繁。总之，大大西洋马尾藻带的繁殖和北部马尾藻海的减少可能代表了马尾藻分布格局转变的开始。
据介绍，马尾藻海位于北大西洋亚热带环流的中心，得名于当地特有的漂浮的棕色大型藻类马尾藻，它为远洋地区的生命提供了庇护和栖息地。2011年，马尾藻足迹扩大到包括热带大西洋的大大西洋马尾藻带，但人们对马尾藻海中的马尾藻此后的变化知之甚少。
附：英文原文
Title: Dramatic decline of Sargassum in the north Sargasso Sea since 2015
Author: Zhang, Yingjun, Barnes, Brian B., Goodwin, Deborah S., Siuda, Amy N. S., Schell, Jeffrey M., McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Lapointe, Brian E., Qi, Lin, Hu, Chuanmin
Issue&Volume: 2025-12-04
Abstract: The Sargasso Sea, at the centre of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, draws its name from the endemic floating brown macroalgae, Sargassum, which provides shelter and habitat for life in the pelagic zone. In 2011, the Sargassum footprint expanded to include the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt in the tropical Atlantic, but little is known about how Sargassum in the Sargasso Sea changed thereafter. Here we use satellite and in situ data to show that Sargassum in the north Sargasso Sea has declined dramatically since 2015. Accompanying this decline is a disruption in local Sargassum seasonal growth cycles, whereby the previously consistent fall-to-winter north Sargasso Sea biomass maxima have shifted to spring-to-summer peaks that mirror those of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt—a result of advection from this latter region. We posit that the north Sargasso Sea decline is due to reduced Sargassum supply from a historical Gulf of Mexico source region, possibly attributable to increasing sea surface temperatures and more frequent marine heatwaves in the Gulf of Mexico. Together, proliferation in the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt and decline in the north Sargasso Sea may represent the beginnings of a regime shift in Sargassum distribution.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01863-5
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01863-5