Glaucia

Question 1

What is the paradox of plankton?

Answer 1

How does a limited range of resources supports an unexpectedly wide diversity of the plankton community? Why do multiple species exist? Why exclusion and competition do not prevail?
Phytoplankton requires the same basic resources: light, nutrients (N, P, iron and Si, in some cases), CO2, yet are highly diverse.

Question 2

What explains the paradox of plankton?

Answer 2

1- Phytoplankton are phylogenetically diverse
2- Biotic interactions are very complex (grazing, parasitism, symbiosis). Not to mention virus infections, which is largely unknown!
3- The environment: ever-changing (short scale, seasons), spatial heterogeneity (biogeography).

Question 3

What does the CHEMTAX do?

Answer 3

The CHEMTAX estimate % abundance of distinct micro-algal from ratios of accessory pigments to chlorophyll a in the literature

Question 4

What does the Flow Cytometry do?

Answer 4

Discriminates particles based on optical fingerprints (fluorescence emission and light scattering).

Record the “pulse shape”.

Broader range of particle sizes (from 1 µm to 1.5 mm in diameter, up to 4 mm in length) and provides images.

Generates a large and complex dataset, descriptors can provide meaningful eco-physiological information

Question 5

What is the definition of Phytoplankton Functional Types and what are they uses for?

Answer 5

Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFTs) are conceptual groupings of phytoplankton species, which have a ecological functionality in common (food web or biogeochemical cycles).

PFTs are relevant proxies of ecosystem functioning. Incorporation into biogeochemical models may improve the predictive capabilities of such models.

Question 6

What is the impact of climate change on phytoplankton?

Answer 6

• More PP
• smaller cell
• Less ice algae
• Ocean acidification
• Plastic