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#phytoplankton

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Loss of sea ice alters the colors of light in the ocean

The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to #GlobalWarming not only increases the amount of light entering the #ocean, but also changes its #color. These changes have far-reaching consequences for #photosynthetic organisms such as ice #algae and #phytoplankton.

That is the conclusion of new research published in Nature Communications, led by marine biologists Monika Soja-Woźniak and Jef Huisman from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) at the University of Amsterdam.

The international research team, which also included physical chemist Sander Woutersen (HIMS/UvA) and collaborators from the #Netherlands and #Denmark, investigated how the loss of #SeaIce alters the underwater light #environment. Sea ice and #seawater differ fundamentally in how they transmit light. Sea ice strongly scatters light and reflects much of it, while allowing only a small amount to penetrate.

Yet, this limited amount of light still contains almost the full range of visible wavelengths. In contrast, seawater absorbs red and green light, while blue light penetrates deep into the water column. This is what gives the ocean its blue color.

phys.org/news/2025-05-loss-sea

Phys.org · Loss of sea ice alters the colors of light in the oceanBy University of Amsterdam

'Cryosphere meltdown' will impact Arctic marine carbon cycles and ecosystems, new study warns

A new study led by Jochen Knies from the iC3 Polar Research Hub has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of #Arctic #fjords to serve as effective #carbon sinks. The findings suggest that the capacity of polar #oceans to remove carbon from the #atmosphere may be reduced as the world continues to heat up.

Knies and his collaborators discovered that rapid changes in the Arctic are transforming vibrant fjord ecosystems like Kongsfjorden in #Svalbard. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, their findings document not only a shift in phytoplankton communities due to melting ice but also a worrying decline in the capacity of these fjords to sequester carbon.

Warmer waters can enhance #phytoplankton growth during sunlit summers, presenting an initial opportunity for increased productivity. However, as the waters become stratified, essential nutrients become harder to access, leading to a double-edged sword: while we may see a rise in phytoplankton #biomass, the efficiency of CarbonCapture could decline.

phys.org/news/2025-04-cryosphe

#ClimateScience
#ClimateCrisis
#Cryosphere

Kīlauea volcano's ash prompted largest open ocean phytoplankton bloom, study reveals
phys.org/news/2025-04-klauea-v

"The waters in the open ocean of the Pacific are nutrient depleted and the addition of volcanic ash, especially iron in the ash, and to a lesser extent other trace elements and possibly phosphate, can stimulate the growth of marine phytoplankton..."

Phys.org · Kīlauea volcano's ash prompted largest open ocean phytoplankton bloom, study revealsBy Marcie Grabowski

Weekend 🦠🦐
With spring 🌱 upon us in the northern hemisphere, it is the time for the spring bloom in many lakes and oceans. To grow, require and , so start reproducing rapidly due to an abundance of nutrients mixed in the water column and increased light intensity 🌞. Zooplankton grazers have yet to increase, and warming conditions help to retain algae near the surface euphotic zone via stratification.
serc.carleton.edu/eet/phytopla

[Back on #Earth ...] Between land and sea there's the beach, the #sand and its grains of #quartz that the breaking #waves continuously disintegrate, feeding the #phytoplankton with dissolved silicon.

This new source of dissolved silicon has just been discovered by several OMP researchers, including Sébastien Fabre from IRAP. It joins those provided by rivers, groundwater discharges and hydrothermal vents.

How is the #BiologicalPump, the mechanism by which the ocean captures and sequesters atmospheric #CO2, affected? Find out here: irap.omp.eu/en/2025/03/the-con

Weekend 🦠🦐
The study of is difficult because of their small size. For this we thank Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1722), the "father of microbiology". This Dutch draper was self-taught in creating high-quality lenses to examine thread. He then viewed tooth scrapings and water, coined the term "animalcules" for , and first described Spirogyra (👍 genus name from JHF Link) as “spirally wound serpent-wise earthy particles”. A was born.

#Mikroorganismen in der #Antarktis reagieren stark auf steigende Temperaturen und den Rückgang des #Meereises.

Wärmere Bedingungen verändern das Gleichgewicht zwischen #Bakterien und #Phytoplankton – mit möglichen Folgen für die gesamte marine #Nahrungskette.

Weniger #Phytoplankton bedeutet weniger #Nährstoffe für #Krill, #Fische und #Meeressäuger.

dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40793-025-

BioMed CentralSpatial and temporal variation of Antarctic microbial interactions: a study around the west Antarctic Peninsula - Environmental MicrobiomeBackground The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region of rapid environmental changes, with regional differences in climate warming along the north–south axis of the peninsula. Along the WAP, Palmer corresponds to a warmer region with lesser sea ice extent in the north compared to Rothera ~ 400 km to the south. Comprehensive and comparative, year-round assessments of the WAP microbial community dynamics in coastal surface waters at these two locations are imperative to understand the effects of regional climate warming variations on microbial community dynamics, but this is still lacking. Results We report on the seasonal diversity, taxonomic overview, as well as predicted inter-and intra-domain causal effects (interactions) of the bacterial and microbial eukaryotic communities close to the Palmer station and at the Rothera time-series site between July 2013 and April 2014. Our 16S- and 18S-rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data showed that across all seasons, both bacteria and microbial eukaryotic communities were considerably different between the two sites which could be attributed to seawater temperature, and sea ice coverage in combination with sea ice type differences. Overall, in terms of biotic drivers, causal-effect modelling suggests that bacteria were stronger drivers of ecosystem dynamics at Palmer, while microbial eukaryotes played a stronger role at Rothera. The parasitic taxa Syndiniales persevered at both sites across the seasons, with Palmer and Rothera harbouring different key groups. Up to 62.3% of the negative causal effects were driven by Syndiniales at Rothera compared to only 13.5% at Palmer, suggesting that parasitism drives community dynamics at Rothera more strongly than at Palmer. Conversely, SAR11 Clade II, which was less abundant but persistent year-round at both sites, was the dominant driver at Palmer, evidenced by many (28.2% and 37.4% of positive and negative effects respectively) strong causal effects. Article note: Kindly check first page article notes are correct. Conclusions Our research has shed light on the dynamics of microbial community composition and correlative interactions at two sampling locations that represent different climate regimes along the WAP.

Weekend 🦠🦐
Most aquatic scientists, particularly those working on are familiar with the name Hans Utermöhl. His name is synonymous with the "Utermöhl method" of settling in a slide-off sedimentation chamber, with the base chamber assessed using an inverted light (which he helped develop). Every phytoplankton taxonomist uses this technique. He was foundational in the research community.
academic.oup.com/plankt/articl

Progression of a phytoplankton bloom. These images are taken over the course of 1 hour and demonstrate how fast ocean conditions can change. The dominant species of this bloom was the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra. Images were taken from the Scripps Pier Live Cam hosted by the Coastal Ocean Observing Lab #phytoplankton #harmfulalgalblooms #scrippspier #scrippsinstitutionofoceanography #oceanography #science #womeninscience

Fascinating.

"The study shows that in some of the coldest, darkest places on Earth, life blooms with the barest quantum of light. “At least some phytoplankton, under some conditions, may be able to do some very useful things at very low light,” said Douglas Campbell (opens a new tab), a specialist in aquatic photosynthesis at Mount Allison University in Canada, who was not involved in the study. “It’s important work.”"

quantamagazine.org/how-does-li

Quanta Magazine · How Does Life Happen When There’s Barely Any Light?By Asher Elbein

An abundant #phytoplankton feeds a global network of marine microbes news.mit.edu/2025/abundant-phy paper: science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv

"#Prochlorococcus shed DNA building blocks into their surroundings, where they are then taken up by other ocean organisms, either as nutrients, energy, or for regulating metabolism... this cross-feeding occurs on a regular cycle: Prochlorococcus tend to shed their molecular baggage at night, when enterprising #microbes quickly consume the cast-offs."