Latest Phytoplankton Stories

Acantharian cyst sedimentationSpore-like reproductive cysts of enigmatic organisms called acantharians rapidly sink from surface waters to the deep ocean in certain regions, according to new research. Scientists suspect that this is part of an extraordinary reproductive strategy, which allows juveniles to exploit a seasonal food bonanza.The research shows that deep sedimentation of cysts during the spring delivers significant amounts of organic matter to the ocean depths, providing a...

Results of Northwest Atlantic Field Program Could Be Applied Worldwide A three-year field program now underway is measuring carbon distributions and primary productivity in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to help scientists worldwide determine the impacts of a changing climate on ocean biology and biogeochemistry. The study, Climate Variability on the East Coast (CliVEC), will also help validate ocean color satellite measurements and refine biogeochemistry models of ocean...

Pumping nutrient-rich water up from the deep ocean to boost algal growth in sunlit surface waters and draw carbon dioxide down from the atmosphere has been touted as a way of ameliorating global warming. However, a new study led by Professor Andreas Oschlies of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) in Kiel, Germany, pours cold water on the idea."Computer simulations show that climatic benefits of the proposed geo-engineering scheme would be modest, with the potential to...

One of the main objectives of marine biology is to understand the trophic food chains involving microbian plankton. That is, to study the sequence of organisms in relation to their nutrition, given that live organisms can be classified from the perspective of nutrition. In this classification each organism is at one level and all these levels are united one to the other, forming a chain. In this succession of stages or levels an organism feeds itself and is devoured. The structure of this...

What constitutes fish food is a matter of debate. A high-profile study a few years ago suggested that fish get almost 50 percent of their carbon from trees and leaves, evidence for a very close link between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.But new research from the University of Washington shows this is not likely to be true. Algae provide a much richer diet for fish and other aquatic life, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

Drifters designed to provide new knowledge about marine protected areas, harmful algal blooms, oil spillsIn an effort to plug gaps in knowledge about key ocean processes, the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s division of ocean sciences has awarded nearly $1 million to scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The Scripps marine scientists will develop a new breed of ocean-probing instruments. Jules Jaffe and Peter Franks will spearhead an effort to design and...

A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).  This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.The team discovered a previously unknown lipid, or fatty compound, in a virus that has been attacking and killing Emiliania huxleyi, a phytoplankton that plays a major role in the global carbon...

Nutrients in the AtlanticLarge-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools "“ dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus (DON and DOP) have been systematically mapped for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a study led by Dr Sinhue Torres-Valdes of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The findings have important implications for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon pump in the Atlantic Ocean.Tiny...

Eutrophication of the seas may have an impact on genetic variation in algae, research at the University of Gothenburg shows.Phytoplankton provide the basis for the whole marine food chain. These microscopic organisms are common in coastal areas, all the way from the polar regions to the Equator, and multiply through cell division. If cells are present in the water mass in large numbers an algal blood develops - a recurrent problem in Swedish seas and along Swedish coasts. Causes of algal...

Scientists work to explain why massive "dead zones" have been invading the Pacific Northwest's near-shore waters since 2002Yet another ecological scourge may earn a place on the ever-lengthening list of problems potentially caused by climate change: the formation of some so-called "dead zones""”huge expanses of ocean that lose virtually all of their marine life at depth during the summer.Possible connections between climate change and the relatively recent formation of...