Phytoplankton: Shedding light on the ocean’s living carbon pump

Phytoplankton play a crucial role in ocean biology and climate. Understanding the natural processes that influence phytoplankton primary production, and how they are changing as the planet warms, is vital. A new study from the PML CBIOMES GROUP using data from the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative, has produced a 20-year time-series of global primary production in the oceans—shedding new light on the ocean’s living carbon pump. Continue reading “Phytoplankton: Shedding light on the ocean’s living carbon pump”

Fellow Travelers

Observations suggest diazotrophs like Crocosphaera and Trichodesmium pay for their ability to fix nitrogen with a very low growth rate, yet diatom-diazotroph associations or DDAs exhibit high growth rates. CBIOMES postdoctoral fellow Chris Follett and co-authors use a cell flux model to test the hypothesis that diatom-diazotroph associations or DDAs grow faster than unpaired diazotrophs because the diatoms in DDAs provide organic carbon to their diazotroph guests that boost their growth rate. Continue reading “Fellow Travelers”