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Phytoplankton are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν, meaning 'plant', and, meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
Eutrophication is the "explosive growth of microorganisms, to the extent that dissolved oxygen is depleted". Other definitions emphasize the role of excessive nutrient supply: "excessive plant growth resulting from nutrient enrichment". It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplankton productivity".
Coccoliths are individual plates or scales of calcium carbonate formed by coccolithophores and cover the cell surface arranged in the form of a spherical shell, called a coccosphere.
Prochlorococcus is a genus of very small (0.6 μm) marine cyanobacteria with an unusual pigmentation. These bacteria belong to the photosynthetic picoplankton and are probably the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth. Prochlorococcus microbes are among the major primary producers in the ocean, responsible for a large percentage of the photosynthetic production of oxygen. Prochlorococcus strains, called ecotypes, have physiological differences enabling them to exploit different ecological niches. Analysis of the genome sequences of Prochlorococcus strains show that 1,273 genes are common to all strains, and the average genome size is about 2,000 genes. In contrast, eukaryotic algae have over 10,000 genes.
The spring bloom is a strong increase in phytoplankton abundance that typically occurs in the early spring and lasts until late spring or early summer. This seasonal event is characteristic of temperate North Atlantic, sub-polar, and coastal waters. Phytoplankton blooms occur when growth exceeds losses, however there is no universally accepted definition of the magnitude of change or the threshold of abundance that constitutes a bloom. The magnitude, spatial extent and duration of a bloom depends on a variety of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include light availability, nutrients, temperature, and physical processes that influence light availability, and biotic factors include grazing, viral lysis, and phytoplankton physiology. The factors that lead to bloom initiation are still actively debated.
Ocean fertilization or ocean nourishment is a type of technology for carbon dioxide removal from the ocean based on the purposeful introduction of plant nutrients to the upper ocean to increase marine food production and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Ocean nutrient fertilization, for example iron fertilization, could stimulate photosynthesis in phytoplankton. The phytoplankton would convert the ocean's dissolved carbon dioxide into carbohydrate, some of which would sink into the deeper ocean before oxidizing. More than a dozen open-sea experiments confirmed that adding iron to the ocean increases photosynthesis in phytoplankton by up to 30 times.
The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Unlike many other biogeochemical cycles, the atmosphere does not play a significant role in the movement of phosphorus, because phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are usually solids at the typical ranges of temperature and pressure found on Earth. The production of phosphine gas occurs in only specialized, local conditions. Therefore, the phosphorus cycle should be viewed from whole Earth system and then specifically focused on the cycle in terrestrial and aquatic systems.
Olav Vadstein is a Norwegian professor of Microbial Ecology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
In the deep ocean, marine snow is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column. It is a significant means of exporting energy from the light-rich photic zone to the aphotic zone below, which is referred to as the biological pump. Export production is the amount of organic matter produced in the ocean by primary production that is not recycled (remineralised) before it sinks into the aphotic zone. Because of the role of export production in the ocean's biological pump, it is typically measured in units of carbon. The term was coined by explorer William Beebe as observed from his bathysphere. As the origin of marine snow lies in activities within the productive photic zone, the prevalence of marine snow changes with seasonal fluctuations in photosynthetic activity and ocean currents. Marine snow can be an important food source for organisms living in the aphotic zone, particularly for organisms that live very deep in the water column.
Bacterioplankton refers to the bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word πλανκτος, meaning "wanderer" or "drifter", and bacterium, a Latin term coined in the 19th century by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. They are found in both seawater and freshwater.
Hypoxia refers to low oxygen conditions. For air-breathing organisms, hypoxia is problematic but for many anaerobic organisms, hypoxia is essential. Hypoxia applies to many situations, but usually refers to the atmosphere and natural waters.
Anita Gerry Johanna Buma is a Dutch Antarctic researcher, best known for her work on ecophysiology of marine microalgae. She was the first Dutch female researcher in Antarctica.
Crocosphaera watsonii is an isolate of a species of unicellular diazotrophic marine cyanobacteria which represent less than 0.1% of the marine microbial population. They thrive in offshore, open-ocean oligotrophic regions where the waters are warmer than 24 degrees Celsius. Crocosphaera watsonii cell density can exceed 1,000 cells per milliliter within the euphotic zone; however, their growth may be limited by the concentration of phosphorus. Crocosphaera watsonii are able to contribute to the oceanic carbon and nitrogen budgets in tropical oceans due to their size, abundance, and rapid growth rate. Crocosphaera watsonii are unicellular nitrogen fixers that fix atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia during the night and contribute to new nitrogen in the oceans. They are a major source of nitrogen to open-ocean systems. Nitrogen fixation is important in the oceans as it not only allows phytoplankton to continue growing when nitrogen and ammonium are in very low supply but it also replenishes other forms of nitrogen, thus fertilizing the ocean and allowing more phytoplankton growth.
The viral shunt is a mechanism that prevents marine microbial particulate organic matter (POM) from migrating up trophic levels by recycling them into dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can be readily taken up by microorganisms. The DOM recycled by the viral shunt pathway is comparable to the amount generated by the other main sources of marine DOM.
David Michael Karl is an American microbial biologist and oceanographer. He is the Victor and Peggy Brandstrom Pavel Professor of Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Director of the University Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education.
Elena Litchman is a professor of aquatic ecology at Michigan State University known for her research on the consequences of global environmental change on phytoplankton.
C. Susan Weiler is an aquatic scientist known for developing mentoring programs for scientists as they navigate the transition from student to independent researcher.
Mary Jane Perry is an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton.
Sonya Dyhrman is an earth and environmental sciences professor who studies the physiology of phytoplankton and their role within marine ecosystems. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Patricia Ana Matrai is a marine scientist known for her work on the cycling of sulfur. She is a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
References
- ↑ Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S.; Fredricks, Helen F.; Pedler, Byron E.; Dyhrman, Sonya T.; Karl, David M.; Koblízek, Michal; Lomas, Michael W.; Mincer, Tracy J.; Moore, Lisa R.; Moutin, Thierry; Rappé, Michael S. (2009-03-05). "Phytoplankton in the ocean use non-phosphorus lipids in response to phosphorus scarcity". Nature. 458 (7234): 69–72. Bibcode:2009Natur.458...69V. doi:10.1038/nature07659. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 19182781. S2CID 18437046.
- ↑ Vardi, Assaf; Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S.; Fredricks, Helen F.; Popendorf, Kimberly J.; Ossolinski, Justin E.; Haramaty, Liti; Bidle, Kay D. (2009-11-06). "Viral glycosphingolipids induce lytic infection and cell death in marine phytoplankton". Science. 326 (5954): 861–865. Bibcode:2009Sci...326..861V. doi:10.1126/science.1177322. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 19892986. S2CID 40102053.
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