The spring bloom in the Baltic Sea, as in most temperate aquatic systems, is by far the most important phase of the annual succession in terms of primary production as typically 40 to 60% of the annual carbon fixation takes place during a few weeks. Two phytoplankton groups are predominant during spring in the Gulf of Finland: diatoms and dinoflagellates. The relative abundances of these algal groups may have a large effect on remineralization of the organic matter. Diatoms settle quickly to the sea floor whereas dinoflagellates either lyse before reaching the sediment, releasing the organic material to the water. Alternatively, they produce resting cysts that do not easily decompose in the sediment. The dominance by either phytoplankton group may thus have direct effect on both the summertime nutrient pools of the water column, and the input of organic matter to the bottom sediments, to contrasting directions.

In parts of the Baltic Sea, dinoflagellates are getting more abundant at the expense of diatoms during spring bloom. What effect this change in phytoplankton community composition will have on biogeochemical fluxes is currently not known, and this is the key issue that I am working with at the moment. The goal is to better understand how the phytotplankton community composition may affect the pathways of organic material in the system.

The start of a project

Scientists are, for various reasons, primarily focused on communicating with each other, although most of the funding for the research conducted comes from the tax payers. Popularizing science can be difficult, in particular conveying all the uncertainties that are prominent in most fields of science. In my opinion it is, however, a task worthwhile doing, both as a service to the public discourse, and in these times of financial crisis, perhaps also a necessity to explain why public research funding is important.

I recently started a 5-year, publicly funded project titled: Changing phytoplankton community composition and its effect on biogeochemical fluxes in the Baltic Sea. This blog is an attempt of public outreach, and I will try to follow up on the tasks done and what the results might imply. I will also try to write about more general topics covering Baltic Sea science.

The Baltic Sea, a small lake's worth of water for everyone

The Baltic Sea is a drop in the ocean, almost literally. The oceans cover 70% of the world's surface, and the Baltic Sea holds ~0.001% of the world's water reservoir. There are 85 million people living in the Baltic catchment area; splitting the Baltic Sea equally between them would give ~100 swimming pools (Olympic size), or a relatively small lake's worth of water for everyone. In comparison, distributing the world's oceans to the global population would give enough water for filling ~100 000 swimming pools for every person. Although that is a lot of water, it is finite, and this exemplifies the shortcomings of the old saying: “the solution to pollution is dilution” for marine habitats in general and for the Baltic Sea in particular.