We are at the moment on a research cruise on the Baltic Sea: http://cflux16.blogspot.com/
Baltic Sea Plankton
In this blog we will describe our ongoing research project on Baltic Sea Plankton
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Phytoplankton community change alter biogeochemical cycles
Long term data sets suggest that ongoing environmental changes alter the species composition at the bottom of the foodweb. In this recent paper (Biogeosciences, 11, 7275–7289, 2014), we present data indicating that this change in phytoplankton community modifies carbon pathways and stoichiometry of coastal material fluxes. This might have implications for the grazing community (e.g. food quality) and for biogeochemical cycles in the Baltic Sea:
http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/7275/2014/bg-11-7275-2014.pdf
http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/7275/2014/bg-11-7275-2014.pdf
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Sunday, December 16, 2012
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.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
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.
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