New paper describing how phytoplankton stoichiometry can influence atmospheric CO2 levels June 8, 2015 by dlinkher The elemental ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon in marine phytoplankton can diverge significantly from the “Redfield ratio,” but the underlying reasons have been hard to elucidate. As a result, global biogeochemical models often ignore this stoichiometric variability. Here we show that, hidden within the noise of a large dataset of particulate measurements, a surprisingly consistent relationship exists between community P:C and dissolved phosphate concentrations.