The Arctic’s thinning sea ice allows more light to penetrate deeper into the ocean, holding zooplankton far beneath the surface.
food webs
Posted inNews
Ambidextrous Microbes May Pump Out CO2 as Temperatures Rise
Certain microbes that engage in both photosynthesis and predation are more likely to do the latter as the planet warms, resulting in a net release of carbon dioxide.
Posted inNews
Penguin Poop May Flush Iron into the Southern Ocean
Nutrients from the seabirds’ guano fuels the growth of carbon-storing phytoplankton, but penguin populations have plunged in the past 4 decades.
Posted inNews
Marine Life May Be Headed to Higher Latitudes
Researchers tracked plankton through a changing climate over 8 million years. Now, that knowledge is helping scientists understand the coming effects of warming oceans.
Posted inNews
Ocean Acidification May Drive Diatom Decline
Diatoms contribute to global oxygen production, marine food webs, and carbon sequestration, but scientists predict that diatom populations will decline due to ocean acidification associated with climate change.
Posted inNews
Algal Mats May Be a Key to the Arctic Food Web
Melt ponds in sea ice have thriving algal communities with startlingly high levels of photosynthetic activity.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Multicellular Algae Discovered in an Early Cambrian Formation
A new study describes eukaryotic organisms found organized in a cortex-medulla pattern in southern China’s Kuanchuanpu Formation.
Posted inNews
Finding Prehistoric Rain Forests by Studying Modern Mammals
Mammal teeth store a record of the plants they ate, providing clues about the ecosystems in which they lived.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Promising Development for Detecting Ocean Productivity
A comparison of primary productivity measurements across the North Pacific Ocean demonstrates the potential for using autonomous instruments to discern effects of climate change on the marine food web.
Posted inNews
A Subglacial Lake in Antarctica Churns Out Nutrients
Eight hundred meters below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, microbes in subglacial Lake Whillans create organic carbon that helps power the Southern Ocean’s vast food chain.