All phytoplankton articles
-
NewsAlgae and water fleas in lakes: Light color influences food webs
Phytoplankton are the basic food source for many aquatic organisms. A new study shows that the light spectrum is more important for these microalgae and for lake ecosystems than previously assumed.
-
NewsNew study reveals phytoplankton’s contribution to centuries-long ocean carbon storage
Phytoplankton have long been viewed as transient players in the global carbon cycle, but researchers have discovered that these tiny organisms can directly pump “stubborn” carbon into the ocean, where it may persist for centuries.
-
NewsRNA viruses may differentially shape carbon recycling in the ocean
A new study has uncovered that certain ocean viruses—specifically RNA viruses—may disrupt how carbon and nutrients are recycled in the ocean, potentially altering the global carbon cycle.
-
NewsIlluminated sugars show how microbes eat the ocean’s carbon
A team of scientists have designed a molecular probe that lights up when a sugar is consumed. They described how the probe helps to study the microscopic tug-of-war between algae and microbial degraders in the ocean.
-
NewsScientists receive $1M grant to study gulf’s mesophotic coral habitats
Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute has received a $999,664 grant from FLRACEP for a three-year project titled, “Influences of Upwelling and Riverine Nutrient Plumes on the Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of the West Florida Shelf.”
-
NewsNorthward jet stream shift hits phytoplankton in the Mediterranean Sea
In just over 20 years, the northward shift of the subtropical jet stream — a high-altitude airflow — caused by climate change has reduced primary production in the northwestern Mediterranean by about 40%, affecting the base of the marine food web.
-
NewsClimate affects microbial life around Antarctica
Bacteria and other microbes in the seas around Antarctica are strongly influenced by water temperature and the amount of sea ice. This is shown by coordinated measurements taken off the coast of the west Antarctic Peninsula, scientists say.
-
NewsGreat whale pee funnel carries nutrients thousands of miles, boosting phytoplanktons
A new study shows that whales carry huge quantities of nutrients horizontally, across whole ocean basins, from rich, cold waters where they feed to warm shores near the equator where they mate and give birth.
-
NewsA new system to study phytoplankton: Crucial species for planet Earth
Researchers have come up with a new way to study phytoplankton. They’ve built a system that can measure the light given off by individual phytoplankton cells, which tells them how efficiently each individual is using light.
-
NewsStudy uncovers complex drivers of phytoplankton bloom
A new study investigates three key processes, each triggered by different aspects of the wind field, that drive the upward transport of nutrients to the surface capable of triggering plankton blooms at the equator.
-
NewsPhytochromes: The ‘eyes’ that enable microalgae to find their way in the depths
By studying the light perception process of diatoms, a group of phytoplankton, scientists have discovered that these microalgae use light variation sensors which are codified in their genomes: phytochromes.
-
NewsTiny poops in the ocean may help solve the carbon problem
Zooplankton could capture carbon dioxide originating from Earth’s atmosphere and deposit it deep into the sea as feces. The new technique mooted consists of spraying clay dust on the surface of the ocean at the site of large blooms of phytoplankton.
-
NewsSusanne Neuer receives Petersen Foundation Excellence Professorship for work on biological carbon pump
Professor Dr Susanne Neuer has been awarded the 31st Excellence Professorship of the Prof. Dr Werner Petersen Foundation for her work on the Biological Carbon Pump.
-
NewsWorld’s first regular flight-based red tide ocean observation to launch in summer 2025
Hokkaido Air System Co., Ltd. will equip one of its aircraft with an external camera to commence the world’s first regular flight-based red tide monitoring starting in the summer of 2025.
-
NewsScientists team up with NASA to unlock ocean phytoplankton secrets from space
Scientists have teamed up with NASA on a new-generation satellite mission to study the colour of the ocean from space, providing vital information about ocean health and its role in climate regulation.
-
News‘Invisible forest’ of algae thrives as ocean warms
An ‘invisible forest’ of phytoplankton is thriving in part of our warming ocean, new research shows. The study examined phytoplankton at the ocean surface and the ‘subsurface’ – a distinct layer of water beneath – to see how climate variability is affecting them.
-
NewsScientists unravel drivers of the global zinc cycle in our oceans
The important role of the Southern Ocean in global biological processes and the carbon cycle has been confirmed by a study that, for the first time based on field evidence, reveals the underappreciated role of inorganic zinc particles in these cycles.
-
NewsFor microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as ‘expressway’ to deeper depths
New research shows how tiny plant-like organisms hitch a ride on ocean currents to reach darker and deeper depths, where they impact carbon cycling and microbial dynamics in the subtropical oceans.
-
NewsNitrogen has been underestimated in lake ecosystems, researchers warn
A new study shows that algae growth in shallow lakes around the world is affected not only by phosphorus but also by nitrogen.
-
NewsUptake of methylmercury by phytoplankton is controlled by thiols
A new study shows that the concentrations of so-called thiols in the water control how available the methylmercury is to living organisms.