Category:Ocean Ecosystem

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Ocean Sustainability

One of the significant ocean sustainability issues has to do with the food chain -- with the impacts of climate change/global warming on the foundations of the food chain, the plankton and the plankton' sensitivity to changes in ocean temperature...

A related critically essential issue has to do with production of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere by ocean 'tiny blue-green' ecosystems, estimated at being responsible for producing 50-80% of the planet's 'thin blue layer'.

The health of Ocean ecosystems is a first magnitude environmental security issue that demands ongoing measuring/monitoring to record changes in the ocean ecosystem over time....

Enormous Plankton database

• http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32831814

May 2015 (at the beginning of the phytoplankton studies)

Dr Bowler: "It is temperature that determines what sort of communities of organisms we find. If we look at our data and we see what organisms are there, we can predict with 97% probability the temperature of the water they are living in.

"These organisms are most sensitive to temperature, more than anything else, and with changing temperatures as a result of climate change we are likely to see changes in this community."

The researchers say that this scientific analysis is just the beginning.

They are making their findings freely available to the scientific community to gain a better understanding of this vital but unseen underwater world.

http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Ocean_Heat_May_2015.png

Blue-Green in the Oceans & Connection to Life on Earth

"A single kind of blue-green algae in the ocean produces the oxygen in one of every five breaths we take"

~ from "The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One" by Sylvia Earle / National Geographic

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Tiny Blue-Green Keywords-Focus Areas

• Blue-Green in the Oceans & Connection to Life on Earth
• "The Tiny Little Ones - Plankton"

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• What's Happening Now in 2016 with the Tiny Blue-Green?
• Coral Reef Ecoregions in Oceans of the World Endangered
• Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Environment in Grave Danger
• Coral reefs in peril as ocean environment is transformed
• Underwater Heat Wave Devastates Great Barrier Reef
• Great Barrier Reef bleaching may be "last wake-up call", marine scientists say

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• Ocean Grass (Plankton) and Ocean Forests (Kelp)

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• Science is just beginning to study the role of 'the tiny little ones' in the oceans
• Phytoplankton/Diatoms/Algae -- Microorganisms of the Oceans
• Endangered Tiny-Miniscule Species
• Microbiomes at Risk

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• SMALL v LARGE SPECIES

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• CO2 Carbon Pollution and Ocean Ecosystems

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• GLOBAL PLANKTON WATCH

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• Marine Biodiversity Strongly Linked to Ocean Temperature
• Ocean Temperatures: Are our oceans dying?
• Ocean's Oxygen Starts Running Low

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• Marine food chains at risk of collapse, extensive study of world's oceans finds

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• NASA Earth Observatory

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"The Tiny Little Ones - Plankton"

"Ecosystems of the Sea"

Nearly all marine plants are single celled, photosynthetic plankton-algae...

It is estimated that marine plants produce well over 50% percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere...

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Olivia's "Prochlorococcus" post -- National Geo for Students: A Message About Saving the 'Little Ones', the Plankton

Students calculate how many breaths we take each day that come from oxygen produced by (blue-green) phytoplankton

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http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/09_03/ocean.shtml (2003)

Lush tropical rainforests, green prairie pastures and other soil-bound vegetation have long flourished in the ecological limelight. But now the other half of the planet is about to enjoy its day in the sun. Half of the world’s oxygen supply is produced by tiny microbes that live in the sea. And researchers sequencing their genomes have turned up some surprising results... "Photosynthetic organisms in the ocean are as important as photosynthetic organisms on earth... The organisms in the ocean are much less impressive than trees in terms of size, but are extremely important to the biosphere. They produce a significant fraction of the oxygen we breathe, and, fortunately for us, are in less danger than the tropical forests..."

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New studies are now indicating more danger to ocean photosynthetic organisms...

Recent research shows increasing ecosytems disruption globally. Ocean science is indicating changes to worldwide phythoplankton and the effects of climate change are beginning to be observed by a first-generation of earth/ocean monitoring satellites and 'on Earth' science studies...

Scientific results of 'blue-green monitoring' are cause for serious concern.

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What's Happening Now in 2016 with the Tiny Blue-Green?

Via Blue Planet:What’s happening to the oceans’ phytoplankton?

The Importance of Plankton

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Coral Reef Ecoregions in Oceans of the World Endangered

NYT: Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists

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Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Environment in Grave Danger

Coral reefs in peril as ocean environment is transformed

"Coral Bleaching": Mass expulsion and death of zooxanthellae

• "Reef Systems, Symbiotic Algae"

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Underwater Heat Wave Devastates Great Barrier Reef

A Nightmare is Unfolding in the Great Barrier Reef

CANBERRA, Australia — An underwater heat wave is devastating huge swaths of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, marine researchers have found.

• Link between fossil fuels and great barrier reef bleaching are incontrovertible

• Coral growth being affected by acidifying oceans

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Great Barrier Reef bleaching may be "last wake-up call", marine scientists say

Extensive bleaching has been caused by higher ocean temperatures...

• WaPo: Huge swaths of the Great Barrier Reef seeing severe coral bleaching

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Australia's Great Barrier Reef hit by severe bleaching - Video

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Ocean Grass (Plankton) and Ocean Forests (Kelp)

Marine Algae: The Most Important Organism?

It is estimated that marine plants produce more than 50%, up to between 70 and 80 percent of the oxygen in the atmosphere... Nearly all marine plants are single celled, photosynthetic algae... Even marine seaweed is, many times, colonial algae. They are a bunch of single cells trying to look like a big plant ('seaweed' - kelp)... Think about it, 70 percent to 80 percent of all the oxygen we breathe... Why does so much of our oxygen come from algae? First of all, remember that the oceans cover about 71 percent of this planet and land is only about 29 percent... Overall, the production of oxygen in the oceans is at least equal to the production on land

Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists Study Ocean Forests

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Motion in the Seas (video) by Mares with Phillip Glass music

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Science is just beginning to study the role of 'the tiny little ones' in the oceans

Removing Carbon, Adding Oxygen: Plankton's Role is Critically Important

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature16942.html

Follow the Tara Expeditions Project

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Big Trouble Ahead for Ocean Plankton

Why the plankton, then the little fish matter -- http://ocean.si.edu/blog/why-littlest-fish-matter-whole-lot

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-- 'Prochlorococcus, Tiny Blue-Green Ones'

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Wikipedia References

-- Plankton

-- Phytoplankton obtain energy through the process of photosynthesis and must therefore live in the well-lit surface layer (termed the euphotic zone) of an ocean, sea, lake, or other body of water. Phytoplankton account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth.

Phytoplankton are responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth’s atmosphere – half of the total amount produced by all plant life.

See Prochlorococcus

Cyanobacteria /saɪˌænoʊbækˈtɪəriə/, also known as Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός (kyanós) = blue). They are often called blue-green algae...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Tolypothrix_%28Cyanobacteria%29.JPG/220px-Tolypothrix_%28Cyanobacteria%29.JPG

Cyanobacteria are arguably the most successful group of microorganisms on earth. They are the most genetically diverse; they occupy a broad range of habitats across all latitudes, widespread in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems, and they are found in the most extreme niches such as hot springs, salt works, and hypersaline bays. Photoautotrophic, oxygen-producing cyanobacteria created the conditions in the planet's early atmosphere that directed the evolution of aerobic metabolism and eukaryotic photosynthesis. Cyanobacteria fulfill vital ecological functions in the world's oceans, being important contributors to global carbon and nitrogen budgets. See Carbon Sinks

Aquatic cyanobacteria are known for their extensive and highly visible blooms that can form in both freshwater and marine environments. The blooms can have the appearance of blue-green paint...

Cyanobacteria use the energy of sunlight to drive photosynthesis, a process where the energy of light is used to split water molecules into oxygen, protons, and electrons. Because they are aquatic organisms, they typically employ several strategies which are collectively known as a "carbon concentrating mechanism" to aid in the acquisition of inorganic carbon (CO2 or bicarbonate)...

See Diatoms

[Diatoms are] among the most common types of phytoplankton. Diatoms play an important role in biogeochemical earth because they contribute an estimated 75% of primary production in coastal waters... There are more than 200 genera of living diatoms, and it is estimated that there are approximately 100,000 extant species.

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Sea Drifters (slideshow from BBC - 2010) -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8498786.stm

Close up images of plankton, the tiny creatures that hold the key to survival in the world's oceans

https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/research/phytoplankton/at_a_glance/chain_forming_diatoms.html

Phytoplankton/Diatoms/Algae -- Microorganisms of the Oceans

Phytoplankton: "Climate & Phytoplankton-Algae"

Plankton Climate Dance

~ Phytoplankton, photosynthesis, carbon cycle, and oxygen in Earth's atmosphere

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Endangered Tiny-Miniscule Species

GP360: The standard approach, when looking at threatened species, is to focus on well-known larger species. The Red List is widely known for its work to identify species at risk of extinction. Its work forms the basis for many biodiversity preservation efforts. The focus on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_world's_100_most_threatened_species larger, readily identified animals is the norm and these species, often mammals, provides just a part of the larger picture of our threatened environment.

Large 'charismatic', or 'iconic' species, most often eclipse recognition of rarely considered species that are not even 'known' or known to be in danger...

The reality is that much of the extinction in our era is of the small species, the lesser known, unknown and unconsidered species, whether in the rich biospheres of the rainforest or the oceans, the micro-organisms are at risk and in peril of collapse.

When we speak of Plankton, as a profoundly critical keystone species, the food chain of the oceans begins with plankton, yet the disruption of the atmosphere and the heating of the ocean, or acidification, will have great consequences to the Phytoplankon, flagellates who cannot move with their limited locomotion system... Acidification of the oceans and the increases of heat or strengthened suns rays due to changes in atmospheric conditions and UV radiation can have deadly consequences to the 'least of and smallest of' the species -- and as a result effect the larger systems in ways that science is only now beginning to measure and monitor.

We are, our species is, beginning to understand that as the small animals comprising the foundations of the 'food chain' and biosphere systems are disrupted, endangered and/or destroyed, the rest of the food chain and integral ecological connections between species will be disrupted, endangered, and/or destroyed.

Microbiomes at Risk

The understanding of and protection of biodiversity, large and small, easily recognized and difficult to recognize, is a great challenge of the era in which we live... loss of biodiversity is producing a 'ripple effect' over time, a threat multiplier that demands strategic environmental security as a key goal, a green policy objective beginning with awareness and policies and practices of sustainability.

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SMALL v LARGE SPECIES

Phytoplankton obtain energy through the process of photosynthesis and must therefore live in the well-lit surface layer (termed the euphotic zone) of an ocean, sea, lake, or other water.

Phytoplankton account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth...

Phytoplankton are responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth’s atmosphere – half of the total amount produced by all plant life. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoplankton

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Marine Biodiversity Strongly Linked to Ocean Temperature

ScienceDaily / 2010 — In an unprecedented effort published online by the international journal Nature, a team of scientists mapped and analyzed global biodiversity patterns for over 11,000 marine species ranging from tiny plankton to sharks and whales.

The researchers found striking similarities among the distribution patterns, with temperature strongly linked to biodiversity for all thirteen groups studied. These results imply that future changes in ocean temperature, such as those due to climate change, may greatly affect the distribution of life in the sea.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100728131707.htm

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CO2 Carbon Pollution and Ocean Ecosystems

2015 - Big Trouble Ahead for Ocean Plankton

Sobering news: Ocean acidification will likely kill off some phytoplankton species and let others thrive, while warming waters will likely cause mass phytoplankton migrations toward the poles. In short: The base of the marine food web could be in for some serious upheaval in the coming decades. Here’s more from MIT News:

“I’ve always been a total believer in climate change, and I try not to be an alarmist, because it’s not good for anyone,” says (Dr. Stephanie) Dutkiewicz, who is the paper’s lead author. “But I was actually quite shocked by the results. The fact that there are so many different possible changes, that different phytoplankton respond differently, means there might be some quite traumatic changes in the communities over the course of the 21st century. A whole rearrangement of the communities means something to both the food web further up, but also for things like cycling of carbon.”

Dutkiewicz and her colleagues studied 154 published experiments...

GLOBAL PLANKTON WATCH SECCHI DISK

THE GLOBAL SEAFARER STUDY OF THE MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The phytoplankton in the sea account for approximately 50% of all photosynthesis on Earth and, through the food web they support, they underpin the marine food chain.

Living at the surface of the sea the phytoplankton are particularly sensitive to changes in sea surface temperature.

We need to know much more about these changes and you can help by making a simple piece of scientific equipment called a Secchi Disk and using the free Secchi App.

Full instructions for the project are included in the free Secchi App.

Press Release -- Scientists fear the population of the microscopic beings is in decline due to rising sea temperatures and, if true, that could have consequences for every aspect of marine life.

Plankton biologist Dr Richard Kirby, who is leading the study, said: "As the phytoplankton live at the surface of the sea they are being affected by rising sea temperatures due to climate change. A scientific paper published in 2010 suggested the ocean's plankton population had declined by as much as 40 per cent since 1950. Like all marine creatures, phytoplankton have a preferred optimum sea temperature no matter where they are in the world and we need to know more about how they are changing in order to understand the effects on the ocean's biology.” To check the levels of phytoplankton in our oceans, marine experts have developed a free smart phone app for sailors and fishermen to use wherever they are in the world.

Dr Kirby added: "The Secchi Disks are still used by marine scientists to study phytoplankton but there are too few scientists to survey the world's oceans as well as we would wish. This app enables seafarers around the world to take part in a science project and if we can just get a small percentage of the global population of sailors involved, we can generate a database that will help us understand how life in the oceans is changing. It would help us learn much more about these important organisms at a crucial time when their habitat is altering due to climate change."

The Secchi app has been developed by Dr Nicholas Outram and Dr Nigel Barlow, from Plymouth University’s School of Computing and Mathematics, and the database will be maintained by Pixalytics Ltd.

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Phytoplankton obtain energy through the process of photosynthesis and must therefore live in the well-lit surface layer (termed the euphotic zone) of an ocean, sea, lake, or other body of water. Phytoplankton account for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth. Thus phytoplankton are responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth’s atmosphere – half of the total amount produced by all plant life. (Wikipedia)

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Marine Biodiversity Strongly Linked to Ocean Temperature

Ocean Temperatures: Are our oceans dying?

"Phytoplankton have declined 40% in 60 years as figures reveal Earth has been getting hotter since the Eighties and much of the heat has been absorbed by oceans...

Microscopic marine algae form the basis of the ocean food chain are dying at a "terrifying rate"...

Phytoplankton, described as the 'fuel' on which marine ecosystems run, are experiencing declines of about 1 per cent of the average total a year...

According to researchers, a 40 per cent drop in phytoplankton since 1950...

Marine diatom cells (Rhizosolenia setigera), an important group of phytoplankton in the oceans are now in massive decline...

The reduction in the amount of algae in the pceams could have an impact on a wide range of species, from tiny zooplankton to marine mammals, seabirds, fish and humans...

The decline of the phytoplankton would be a more dramatic change than the loss of the tropical rainforests, scientist say...

The research, published in the journal Nature, says plankton declines are linked to rising sea-surface temperatures and changes in the conditions of the ocean, particularly close to the equator...

Most of the declines are seen in tropical regions, polar and in the open ocean, where most phytoplankton are produced...

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Ocean's Oxygen Starts Running Low

Via Scientific American: Rising levels of CO2 are making it hard for fish to breathe in addition to exacerbating global warming and ocean acidification

Via Grist (2016): Oceans in crisis in as little as 15 years

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Via Ocean Scientists for Informed Policy: Ocean Deoxygenation

Via AGU / Global Biogeochemical cycles: Finding forced trends in oceanic oxygen

Via National Center for Atmospheric Research: "Loss of oxygen in the ocean is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere"

"A major threat to marine life," says NCAR scientist Matthew Long...

Loss of Ocean Oxygen, A 'Forced Trend'

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Marine food chains at risk of collapse, extensive study of world's oceans finds

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/13/marine-food-chains-at-risk-of-collapse-extensive-study-of-worlds-oceans-reveals

Important ecosystems could be massively damaged by 2050 unless greenhouse gas emissions and localised pollution is drastically reduced, researchers say...

The food chains of the world’s oceans are at risk of collapse due to the release of greenhouse gases, overfishing and localised pollution, a stark new analysis shows.

A study of 632 published experiments of the world’s oceans, from tropical to arctic waters, spanning coral reefs and the open seas, found that climate change is whittling away the diversity and abundance of marine species.

The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found there was “limited scope” for animals to deal with warming waters and acidification, with very few species escaping the negative impact of increasing carbon dioxide dissolution in the oceans.

Published by Nature Climate Change:

Revaluating ocean warming impacts on global phytoplankton

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NASA Earth Observatory

Phytoplankton Oxygen Factories

Phytoplankton are the grass of the sea. They are floating, drifting, plant-like organisms that harness the energy of the Sun, mix it with carbon dioxide that they take from the atmosphere, and turn it into carbohydrates and oxygen.

Phytoplankton are critical to the marine food web, being the primary producers of food for the oceanic food web, from zooplankton to fish and shellfish to whales.

Like plants and trees on land, phytoplankton give us a lot more than food. It is estimated that 50 to 80 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere has been produced by phytoplankton. At the same time, they are responsible for drawing down significant portions of the carbon dioxide from the air. The tiniest of living organisms exert an outsized influence on the planet.

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Earthviews from Astronauts

Earth Science Research from Space

http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/87000/87465/sepacific_vir_2016013.jpg