#phytoplankton — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #phytoplankton, aggregated by home.social.
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🌊 The ocean is changing color, and the satellite that caught it is about to go dark.
NASA's Aqua satellite has watched ocean color for 24 years. Its MODIS instrument recorded subtle shifts in reflected light across nearly half the world's ocean, changes that can't be explained by natural year-to-year variability alone.
Phytoplankton, the base of the marine food web, contain chlorophyll that absorbs red and blue light and reflects green. Arctic primary production is up 57% since 1998 as sea ice retreats, and polar waters are measurably greening.
What's still unsettled: models predict subtropical gyres turning bluer as warmer, more stratified surface water traps nutrients below, but the headline satellite analysis found low-latitude oceans getting greener on the whole. Different methods of analyzing the same data genuinely disagree. Active science.
Aqua, the first satellite of NASA's A-Train constellation, made its last orbit-keeping burn in December 2021 and has been drifting since. NASA projects instrument shutdown on August 26, 2026.
Read more:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06321-z
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08457-x
https://aqua.nasa.gov/ -
Ocean Nutrient Stress
▶️ 1 new picture from NASA (SVS) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ocean+Nutrient+Stress+%28SVS5654+-+8+00001+cropped%29.jpg
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#Splicing dysfunction may represent a cryptic form of #genome erosion. This study shows that intron retention freq is much higher in #recombination -suppressed #MatingType regions in 4 #phytoplankton species, producing aberrant transcripts & functional decay @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/44vbDFI
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Breath Beneath the Waves.
The ocean's greatest contribution is largely invisible. Every breath is a reminder that small things can create extraordinary impact. #OceanHealth #MarineLife #OceanConservation #ClimateAction #BluePlanet #Sustainability #Environment #Nature #Earth #CleanOceanshttps://sanjaymohindroo.wordpress.com/2026/06/23/breath-beneath-the-waves/
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what #elnino means for the #planet and specific regions #climatechange, what would be really bad is decline in microscopic #phytoplankton #plankton absorb most #CO2 overall each year through photosynthesis (and drive the ocean’s “biological pump”), while coastal “blue carbon” #ecosystems — mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes — store the most carbon long‑term per unit area by burying it in sediments
#ocean https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-prepare-el-nino -
#SeaIce loss in the #Arctic has triggered a critical #TippingPoint that's destroying the food chain
Story by Sascha Pare, June 8, 2026
"The Arctic Ocean has crossed a tipping point that is wreaking havoc on the region's food chain, with potentially dire consequences for commercial fishing and the ocean's capacity to soak up carbon, a new study reports.
"Scientists found that vast areas of melting sea ice in the Arctic are leading to a significant reduction in nitrate, a key nutrient that forms the base of the marine food web and thus underpins important regional fisheries. As the ice disappears, more light hits the water's surface, promoting the growth of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. When phytoplankton die, their cells sink to the seafloor and are decomposed by nitrate- and oxygen-consuming bacteria.
"The new study, published May 28 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, found that the bacteria are consuming more nitrate than the Arctic ecosystem can withstand.
"This effect, known as 'denitrification,"' is irreversible under current climate conditions because we have passed a threshold where so much sunlight reaches the ocean that it's supercharging phytoplankton's productivity, said Marta Santos-García, a doctoral student of Arctic marine biogeochemistry at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the first author of the study.
" 'Even if sea ice were to increase temporarily, the Arctic nutrient system responds over much longer timescales,' Santos-García told Live Science in an email. 'Short-term increases in sea ice would be unlikely to rapidly reverse the decline in nitrate inventories, which may take much longer to recover.'
"Dropping nitrate levels may eventually come back to bite phytoplankton, because these tiny organisms need nitrate to carry out photosynthesis. As a result, the transition to a low-nitrate regime could accelerate #ClimateChange, as nitrate plays an essential role in the ocean's biological pump, which takes #CarbonDioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and locks it away at depth when #phytoplankton and the animals that eat it die.
" 'With nutrients such as nitrate in limited supply this mechanism cannot work effectively,' Santos-García said.
"To understand ecosystem changes in the Arctic, the researchers analyzed two decades of data from the Fram Strait, a passage between Greenland and Svalbard, Norway, that is the main gateway through which Arctic waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean. They found a sharp decline in nitrate levels in this region after 2009, which coincided with a dramatic reduction in Arctic sea ice and a gradual shift in phytoplankton communities toward smaller species that can cope with low nutrient levels.
" 'Shifts towards smaller phytoplankton have already been observed in parts of the Arctic, although these changes have not previously been linked to nitrate losses,' Santos-García said. 'This matters because smaller phytoplankton are generally less efficient at transferring energy up the food web. More of the energy is recycled within microbial communities rather than being passed on to larger zooplankton, fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.'
"Phytoplankton sit at the very bottom of the marine food chain, so the impacts of nitrate depletion will ripple through the Arctic ecosystem, impacting species at the highest levels. This could also affect fisheries in regions that depend on Arctic nutrient exports, such as the North Atlantic. But pinpointing what will happen in ecosystems downstream of the Arctic Ocean requires more research, Santos-García said.
"For years, researchers thought the long-term impact of sea ice loss in the Arctic would be an increase in phytoplankton, because more organisms can bathe in sunlight and multiply when the sea ice extent is small. However, the increase in phytoplankton since 2009 has depleted nitrate levels enough to limit future phytoplankton growth.
"Whereas phytoplankton proliferation used to be limited by how much sunlight reached surface waters, it is now controlled by nitrate levels. Therefore, nitrate must be considered as a key driver of future changes in the Arctic, Santos-García said.
" 'As nitrate is the nutrient that limits Arctic productivity, understanding these changes is therefore important not only for Arctic communities and ecosystems, but also for improving projections of future climate change,' she said."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/E1Dlw#ClimateChange #TippingPoint #GlobalWarming #WarmingOceans #ArcticEcosystems #SeaIce #OceansAreLife
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#PhotoOfTheDay: Ailing “#Megaberg” Sparks Surge of Microscopic Life
As #Iceberg A-23A disintegrated, it shed meltwater that helped fuel an extensive #Phytoplankton #Bloom in the South Atlantic Ocean.
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/ailing-megaberg-sparks-surge-of-microscopic-life/
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Turbulence and Bioluminescence
If you’ve ever seen crashing waves glowing blue, you’ve been treated to bioluminescence. Although many creatures can bioluminesce, tiny dinoflagellates–a type of marine phytoplankton–are one of the easiest to spot. These microscopic organisms create a flash of light in response to viscous stresses. Their response to flow-induced stresses is so robust that they can be used to visualize stress fields.
In a new study, researchers explored how turbulence affects the dinoflagellate’s luminescence. They mathematically modeled the dinoflagellate as an elastic dumbbell that emitted light based on its extent and rate of deformation. Then they explored how this model dinoflagellate behaved in different types of turbulent flows. They found that the fluctuations and intermittency of turbulent flows both encouraged the radiant displays. (Image credit: T. McKinnon; research credit: P. Kumar and J. Picardo)
#biology #bioluminescence #flowVisualization #fluidDynamics #physics #phytoplankton #science #turbulence -
#Mikroplastik beeinträchtigt die Fähigkeit der #Ozeane, #CO2 zu speichern und Wärme aufzunehmen.
Forschende zeigen, dass es die #Photosynthese von #Phytoplankton hemmt und die biologische #Kohlenstoffpumpe stört. Dadurch verliert der Ozean seine Rolle als #Klimapuffer.
Die Folge könnten Erwärmung, #Versauerung und der Verlust von #Biodiversität sein.
#Meeresforschung #Umweltverschmutzung #Plastik #climatechange #environment #healthcare #biodiversity
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btw: auf dem #39c3 würde über Forschung zu arktischem #Phytoplankton berichtet (s.u.). Das erwähnte meereisportal/seaiceportal findet ihr auch hier im Fediverse. @Meereisportal
| Von wegen Eisblumen! Wie man mit Code, Satelliten und Schiffsexpeditionen die bunte Welt des arktischen Phytoplanktons sichtbar macht
Montag, 29. Dezember 2025 16:00 MEZ (Europe/Berlin), Fuse -
Von wegen Eisblumen!
Moritz Zeising vom @awi erklärt, wie er mit Code, Satelliten und Schiffs-Expeditionen die bunte Welt des arktischen Phytoplanktons sichtbar macht. Faszinierend und beeindruckend. Schaut mal rein:
https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-von-wegen-eisblumen-wie-man-mit-code-satelliten-und-schiffsexpeditionen-die-bunte-welt-des-arktischen-phytoplanktons-sichtbar-machtMehr zum Hintergrund:
https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2025/fahrplan/event/von-wegen-eisblumen-wie-man-mit-code-satelliten-und-schiffsexpeditionen-die-bunte-welt-des-arktischen-phytoplanktons-sichtbar-macht
https://www.awi.de/ueber-uns/organisation/mitarbeiter/detailseite/moritz-zeising.html
https://www.awi.de/forschung/biowissenschaften/polare-biologische-ozeanographie/indifun-ai.html
https://www.awi.de/themen.html#PlanetareGesundheit #BioDiversität #PhytoPlankton #ErdSysteme #PlanetaryBoundaryScience #KohlenstoffKreisläufe #39C3
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17-Dec-2025
Deep ocean #earthquakes drive Southern Ocean’s massive #phytoplankton blooms, study finds -
Chlorophyll Eddies
Instruments aboard NASA’s PACE mission are able to distinguish far more about phytoplankton blooms than previous satellites. This image shows chlorophyll concentrations in the Norwegian Sea in July 2025. Chlorophyll acts as a proxy for phytoplankton, which produce the chemical as they process sunlight into food and oxygen.
Despite their microscopic size, phytoplankton have enormous collective effects. Scientists estimate that phytoplankton produce as much as half of the Earth’s oxygen in addition to helping transport carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. They are also the foundation of the marine food web, feeding nearly all life in the ocean. (Image credit: W. Liang; via NASA Earth Observatory)
#eddies #flowVisualization #fluidDynamics #physics #phytoplankton #satelliteImage #science
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Trophic Interactions Influence Thermal Adaptation of Phytoplankton Size and Stoichiometry by Anderson et al.
Available now ahead of print!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/738554 -
sort of begs the question of whether the carbon cycle can be artificially pumped up to help us by adding iron directly to ocean areas to promote #phytoplankton, doesn't it?
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Schwächung der biologischen #Kohlenstoffpumpe im Kapitel zum #Ökosystem der #Ozeane ergänzt. Das Thema ist vielgestaltig und beschränkt sich nicht auf #Phytoplankton, aber auch bei Fischen, Säugetieren, Korallen usw. sieht es schlecht aus.
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So would the climate change interest you more if you knew that phytoplankton produces most of the oxygen in the atmosphere?
If they die due to warming oceans we will all suffocate.
Edit: and did you know the oxygen levels have been in steady decline for a while? Though small but still.
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The study indicates that ash from the #Nishinoshima #eruptions was transported by wind and #ocean currents to the waters around #Mukojima, serving as a nutrient source for #phytoplankton growth in that area.
The findings suggest that volcanic ash can enhance the productivity of #marine waters even at considerable distances from the #volcanic site.
#Ecology #EarthScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2025/10/eco10072502.html -
Researchers track how #iron deficiency disrupts #photosynthesis in crucial #ocean #algae
"Every other breath you take includes oxygen from the ocean, released from phytoplankton," said Paul G. Falkowski, the Bennett L. Smith Chair in Business and Natural Resources at Rutgers-New Brunswick and a co-author of the study. "Our research shows that iron is a limiting factor in phytoplankton's ability to make oxygen in vast regions of the ocean"
https://phys.org/news/2025-08-track-iron-deficiency-disrupts-photosynthesis.html
#phytoplankton #IronFertilization -
Warming seas threaten key #phytoplankton species that fuels the #foodweb, study finds
“These are #keystonespecies — very important ones,” said François Ribalet, a research associate professor at the University of Washington’s School of #Oceanography and the study’s lead author. “And when a keystone species decreases in abundance, it always has consequences on #ecology and #biodiversity. The food web is going to change.”
https://apnews.com/article/phytoplankton-prochlorococcus-decline-food-web-warming-oceans-c9e31c10b3ff9d613b41517836d55122 -
From AP News.com: Warming seas threaten key phytoplankton species that fuels the food web, study finds
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Verlieren die Ozeane ihre Sauerstoffproduzenten? Erwärmung der Meere schadet der wichtigsten Phytoplankton-Art des Ozeans. #Phytoplankton #Ozean #Klimawandel #Cyanobakterien #Meer
https://www.scinexx.de/news/biowissen/verlieren-die-ozeane-ihre-sauerstoffproduzenten/ -
Planktonart droht starker Schwund
Er ist ein extrem wichtiger Sauerstoffproduzent und sowohl der kleinste als auch der am häufigsten vorkommende photosynthetische Organismus der Erde: das #Phytoplankton #Prochlorococcus. Eine Studie zeigt nun, dass das #Bakterium empfindlicher auf hohe Temperaturen reagiert als bisher gedacht.
Die ökologische Bedeutung von Prochlorococcus ist enorm: Die Organismen produzieren schätzungsweise ein Fünftel des neu entstehenden Sauerstoffs in der #Erdatmosphäre, wie das Team um Francois Ribalet von der US-Universität Washington in Seattle erläutert. Sie besiedelten über 75 Prozent der sonnenbeschienenen Meeresoberflächen der Welt und machten in den nährstoffarmen tropischen und subtropischen Gewässern fast die Hälfte der #Phytoplanktonbiomasse aus. Damit sei #Prochlorococcus auch ein wichtiger #Startorganismus für die #Nahrungsketten der #Meere.
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New publication: Connecting diversity and process: Eukaryotic #phytoplankton community dynamics across the #YangtzeRiver using #environmentalDNA. #biodiversity #eDNA
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.114026