Tag Archives: Follows

By Richard A. Ingebrigtsen, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø - Own work, GFDL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12614179

Keeping Things the Same

Climate Change, Diversity and Biogeography, , , ,

The elemental composition of organic matter is remarkably constant throughout the world’s oceans, but phytoplankton are known to take up nutrients and carbon in quite variable ratios depending on light and nutrient conditions.

In a paper published online in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles last month, Darwin Project researchers David Talmy (MIT), Christopher Hill (MIT), Anna Hickman (Univ. of Southampton, England), and Mick Follows (MIT), in a collaboration with Adam Martiny (Univ. of California, Irvine), report on their work  seeking to understand what ecosystem factors could cause the elemental composition of organic matter to remain stable and relatively constant (homeostatic), even when the phytoplankton can have quite variable composition. Continue reading Keeping Things the Same →

Image credit: Christian Sardet, Tara Expeditions

Uncovering a Diverse Invisible Ocean World

Diversity and Biogeography, Research, ,

Read this story at oceans.mit.edu

Tara Oceans, an international consortium of researchers that explored the world’s oceans in hopes of learning more about one of its smallest inhabitants, reported their initial findings this week in a special issue of Science. Plankton are vital to life on Earth—they absorb carbon dioxide, generate nearly half of the oxygen we breathe, break down waste, and are a cornerstone of the marine food chain. Now, new research indicates the diminutive creatures are not only more diverse than previously thought, but also profoundly affected by their environment. Continue reading Uncovering a Diverse Invisible Ocean World →

Villar, E., Farrant, G.K., Follows, M.J., et al, 2015, Environmental characteristics of Agulhas rings affect interocean plankton transport. Science, Vol. 348 no. 6237, doi: 10.1126/science.1261447

Alexandra Z. Worden, Michael J. Follows, Stephen J. Giovannoni, Susanne Wilken, Amy E. Zimmerman, and Patrick J. Keeling (2015) Rethinking the marine carbon cycle: Factoring in the multifarious lifestyles of microbes. Science 13 February 2015: Vol. 347 no. 6223, doi: 10.1126/science.1257594

Talmy, D., J. Blackford, N. J. Hardman-Mountford, L. Polimene, M.J. Follows, and R.J. Geider (2014) Flexible C : N ratio enhances metabolism of large phytoplankton when resource supply is intermittent. Biogeosciences,  11, 4881-4895, doi: 10.5194/bg-11-4881-2014

NO3, Fe, and diazotroph biomass - observations (left) and model (right) over top 50 m - from Fig 1, Dutkiewicz et al, 2014

Life on the Edge – How shifting marine province boundaries could provide a new metric for global change

Climate Change, Diversity and Biogeography, Nitrogen Fixation, , , ,

In their new competition theory paper, appearing in the 2014 issue of Biogeosciences, Dutkiewicz et al examine the sensitivity of the biogeography of nitrogen fixers to a warming climate and increased aeolian iron deposition in the context of a global earth system model. Continue reading Life on the Edge – How shifting marine province boundaries could provide a new metric for global change →