Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approach that can also mitigate ocean acidification. However, its biological impacts are expected to depend on the magnitude, timing, and dilution of alkalinity additions. To investigate these factors, a mesocosm experiment simulated hydrated lime additions using two six-level alkalinity gradients (up to ΔTA 1250 µmol kg⁻¹): one with immediate full-column mixing and another with mixing delayed by two days. These treatments simulated rapid (e.g. from a moving vessel in open ocean) and slow (e .g. point source or land-based applications in poorly mixed environments)dilution scenarios, representing different hydrodynamic conditions that may occur following real-world alkalinity additions. Gross production (GP), net community production (NCP) and community respiration (CR), determined from in vitro oxygen production and consumption, together with chlorophyll a, were monitored over a 35-day period. Spring bloom initiation was delayed non-linearly at low fCO₂, with reduced absolute and biomass-normalized production occurring in treatments exposed to fCO₂ below ~70 and 30 µatm respectively. These findings indicate that phytoplankton communities may be generally resilient to realistic OAE scenarios while helping to define ecologically relevant fCO₂ thresholds for safe OAE deployment.
This dataset contains species-resolved phytoplankton and microzooplankton abundance and biomass data from the KOSMOS 2023 Helgoland mesocosm experiment conducted in the coastal waters off Helgoland Island in the North Sea, Germany. The experiment investigated the effects of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) on plankton communities during the development of a natural spring bloom. Six mesocosms (~6 m³) were subjected to an immediate dilution OAE scenario, establishing an alkalinity enhancement gradient ranging from ΔTA 0 to 1250 µmol kg⁻¹ in increments of 250 µmol kg⁻¹ through calcium-based alkalinity addition. The dataset includes taxonomically resolved phytoplankton and microzooplankton abundance (cells mL⁻¹), carbon biomass (µg C L⁻¹), functional group classifications, and World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) taxonomic identifiers. Associated carbonate chemistry measurements, including total alkalinity (TA), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), pH, fugacity of carbon dioxide (fCO₂), salinity, temperature, and calculated ΔTA values are provided for each sampling event.