All phytoplankton articles
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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NewsSome phytoplankton can blitz neurotoxin methylmercury - even in the dark
In the search for ways to fight methylmercury in global waterways, scientists have discovered that some forms of phytoplankton are good at degrading the potent neurotoxin - even in the absence of sunlight.
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NewsProchlorococcus ancestors rafted out to sea on chitin particles
Scientists propose that ancestors of Prochlorococcus hitched a ride on passing exoskeleton particles, using the particles as rafts to venture further out to sea. These chitin rafts may have also provided essential nutrients, fueling and sustaining the microbes along their journey.
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NewsCoastal ecosystem shows shifting bacterial extracellular hydrolytic systems
Scientists have found that a coastal ecosystem that experiences periodic phytoplankton blooms appears to have two distinct bacterial extracellular hydrolytic systems linked to shifts in bacterial community structure.
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NewsPhytoplankton blooms offer insight into impacts of climate change
The first study into the biological response of the upper ocean in the wake of South Pacific cyclones could help predict the impact of warming ocean temperatures, New Zealand researchers believe.
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NewsTiny chalk discs in oceans play key role in earth’s carbon cycle by propagating viruses
Researchers find biomineral structures formed by marine algae foment viral infection, contributing positively to capture CO2.
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News‘Friend or foe’ bacteria kill algal hosts when coexisting no longer works out
A study sheds new light on chemical processes that cause marine bacteria to switch from coexistence with an algae host to killer mode.