Related Research Articles
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term algae encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. Algal bloom commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae. An example of a macroscopic algal bloom is a kelp forest.
Coccolithophores, or coccolithophorids, are single-celled organisms which are part of the phytoplankton, the autotrophic (self-feeding) component of the plankton community. They form a group of about 200 species, and belong either to the kingdom Protista, according to Robert Whittaker's five-kingdom system, or clade Hacrobia, according to a newer biological classification system. Within the Hacrobia, the coccolithophores are in the phylum or division Haptophyta, class Prymnesiophyceae. Coccolithophores are almost exclusively marine, are photosynthetic and mixotrophic, and exist in large numbers throughout the sunlight zone of the ocean.
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.
Photosynthetic picoplankton or picophytoplankton is the fraction of the photosynthetic phytoplankton of cell sizes between 0.2 and 2 μm. It is especially important in the central oligotrophic regions of the world oceans that have very low concentration of nutrients.
The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that involves 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 materials do not enter the gaseous phase readily, as the main source of gaseous phosphorus, phosphine, is only produced in isolated and specific conditions. Therefore, the phosphorus cycle is primarily examined studying the movement of orthophosphate (PO4)3-, the form of phosphorus that is most commonly seen in the environment, through terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
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.
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.
Susana Agustí Requena is a Spanish biological oceanographer who has participated in over 25 oceanographic expeditions in the Arctic, Southern Ocean (Antarctic), Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. She played a key role in the Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition. She is professor in Marine Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and an adjunct Professor at the University of Tromsø (Norway).
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.
Claudia Benitez-Nelson is a Latinx American oceanographer whose research focuses on marine geochemistry and biogeochemistry. A Carolina Distinguished Professor, she serves as the Senior Associate Dean for College Initiatives and Interdisciplinary Programs at the University of South Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences.
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.
Mary Jane Perry is an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton.
The Great Calcite Belt (GCB) refers to a region of the ocean where there are high concentrations of calcite, a mineral form of calcium carbonate. The belt extends over a large area of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. The calcite in the Great Calcite Belt is formed by tiny marine organisms called coccolithophores, which build their shells out of calcium carbonate. When these organisms die, their shells sink to the bottom of the ocean, and over time, they accumulate to form a thick layer of calcite sediment.
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.
Susanne Menden-Deuer is an oceanographer and marine scientist known for her work on marine food webs, including their structure and function. As of 2022, she is president-elect of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.
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
- 1 2 "Benjamin Van Mooy". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
- ↑ 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.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Google Scholar Author page, Accessed July 24, 2021