Plankton
A Book Blooms in the LabWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 16 May 2013When conditions of light and nutrients align in the surface waters of the ocean, tiny single-celled algae called phytoplankton respond with explosive growth and reproduction in a phenomenon known as a phytoplankton bloom.
Plankton | Research The Black Sea is a Goldmine of Ancient Genetic DataWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 07 May 2013When Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine paleoecologist Marco Coolen was mining through vast amounts of genetic data from the Black Sea sediment record, he was amazed about the variety of past plankton species that left behind their genetic makeup (i.e., the plankton paleome).
Plankton | Research Bloom: Photosynthetic pods for mid-ocean livingsmartplanet.com | 05 Apr 2013Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that float around the water surface, harnessing sunlight to make energy for themselves. Like plants, they use chlorophyll to produce oxygen while absorbing carbon dioxide. So, with impending sea level rises, French architecture firm Sitbon Architectes designed a livable, phytoplankton farm to be installed in the Indian Ocean.
Indian Ocean | Climate Change | Plankton Glaciers a Major Source of Iron to North AtlanticWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 12 Mar 2013All living organisms rely on iron as an essential nutrient. In the ocean, irons abundance or scarcity means all the difference as it fuels the growth of plankton, the base of the oceans food web. A new study by biogeochemists and glaciologists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) identifies a unexpectedly large source of iron to the North Atlantic – meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets.
Atlantic Ocean | Plankton | Research Seafarers, science needs you! Help us collect data on the oceansGuardian Unlimited | 08 Mar 2013If you are a sailor, angler or small boat owner and would like to take part in a unique global study of the health of the oceans then I need your help. My team of marine biologists and computer scientists at the University of Plymouth are aiming to recruit thousands of seafarers from around the world who are willing to collect simple data while out at sea and submit it to us via a free app - called Secchi.
Plankton | Research A Day in the Life of a PhytoplankterWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution | 29 Jan 2013Earth's vast oceans teem with innumerable microscopic plants that make the fertility and abundance of the United States Grain Belt look like, well, a drop in the ocean. These tiny phytoplankton are essential to life on Earth, says biologist Sam Laney.
Plankton | Research Unusual symbiosis discovered in marine microorganismsEurekAlert | 24 Sep 2012(National Science Foundation) Scientists have discovered an unusual symbiosis between tiny single-celled algae and highly specialized bacteria in the ocean.The partnership plays an important role in fertilizing the oceans by taking nitrogen from the atmosphere and "fixing" it into a form that other organisms can use.
Plankton | Research