Transcript Plankton bloom

Plankton
The wanderers,
drifting on the surface
of the sea….
Main Types of Plankton
 Phytoplankton or zooplankton
 Diatoms
 Dinoflagellates
 Coccolithophores
 Cyanobacteria
 larvae
Microbial Plankton Ecology
 One of the hot new topics in marine biology
 Each liter of seawater contains 5 billion bacteria
 100 million times more bacteria in ocean than stars
 Bacteria mass > zooplankton + fish mass
Marine Viruses
 Affect nutrient cycling
 10 billion per liter
 Most common biologic agents in the sea
 Responsible for waterborne illness
 1000x more oceanic viruses than bacteria
 Carbon mass in viruses = C mass of 75 million blue
whales
Picoplankton
 Extremely tiny
 0.2 – 2 micrometers
 Account for 79% of photosynthesis in tropics
 Cyanobacteria are picoplankton
 Play a significant role in producing oxygen and fixing
nitrogen, making vitamins, and taking up carbon dioxide
 Feed heterotrophic plankton
Cyanobacteria (Cyanophyta)
 Used to be called blue-green algae
 Significant component of nitrogen cycle
 Produced most of the oxygen in the atmosphere
 Stromatolites –oldest fossils in Australia
Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are most plentiful
species on earth
1 ml of seawater contains 100,000 cells
Some are red/ give flamingos color
Pigments: chlorophyll a, phycoerythrin + phycocyanin
Transmission Electron Micrograph of Cyanobacteria
Liberton M et al. Plant Physiol. 2010;155:1656-1666
Cyanothece 51142.
©2011 by American Society of Plant Biologists
In extreme habitats
Picoplankton illustrated
Diatoms – like glass jewel boxes
2 kinds: centric (circular) and pennate (oblong)
Frustule
(silica shell)
centric
pennate
Diatoms are:
-the most dominant and productive of phytoplankton
-the most efficient photosynthesizers known
Diatoms look
brown frozen
in ice
Exquisite
Diatoms
Images taken with a
scanning electron microscope
Coccolithophores
 Shells of calcium carbonate
 Live in shallow brightly lit water, especially in tropics
 Areas with high concentrations appear milky
Foraminifera
Dinoflagellates – the second
most abundant phytoplankton
 Have one or two flagella used
for motion
 Zooxanthellae live inside coral
polyps where they are the most
significant primary producers
 Reproduce quickly
 Mixotropic
 parasites
Plankton bloom
 Occurs whenever there is an abundance of nutrients
 caused by mixing of water layers
 caused by upwelling of deeper currents
 caused by pollution
 limited by thermoclines
Plankton bloom
 Also called harmful algal bloom
 May be a red tide
Dinoflagellates: Red Tides
 often the cause of “red tides” or blooms of
toxic or non-toxic cells
 blooms may cause mass mortalities of marine
and freshwater organisms
 contain toxins that are accumulated by
shellfish and cause PSP (Paralytic Shellfish
Poisoning)
13.8 ppm
2.07 ppm
0.23 ppm
0.04 ppm
Tertiary
consumers
Secondary
consumers
Primary
consumers
Primary
producers
The numbers are representative values of the concentration in the tissues of
dinoflagellate toxin (ppm)
Plankton bloom
from space, and
under arctic ice
Bioluminescence in Dinoflagellates
 Sparkling blue-green light emitted at night as a 0.1 sec flash
 Noctiluca – Latin for night shine
 maximum bioluminescence occurs just before dawn, following
a sunny day
 Occurs when mechanically stimulated, by boat, waves or
swimming fish
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZVvIWI2psU ocean waves
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IThAD5yKrgE&list=TLw8tw
pVGoyei1T2EVfkIq2muux10N2OiW surfing in a red tide
The
Reaction
Contain luciferase,
an enzyme, and
luciferin, a
chlorophyll-derived
ring that acts as a
substrate in the
light-producing
reaction
Dinoflagellate luciferin
Bioluminescent Bay
in Puerto Rico
 http://biobay.com/
 Vieques, Puerto Rico
 http://www.kayakingpuertorico.com/pages/biobay.html
 Fajardo, Puerto Rico
 “Must must see!”Reviewed September 5, 2013 trip advisor
One of the top 10 things I have ever done in my life. Go
late at night, on a night with little or no moon to see them
the best. Doesn't really matter what tour you book with, do
whatever is cheapest/available on the darkest night. It was
like Avatar meets Pocahontas.
Biobay in Puerto Rico
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJjdEAjDTxc
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeXhkv_DmdM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dk-sNnMsCY
Edith Widder: Glowing life in an
underwater world
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IThAD5yKrgE
 Ted talk 17 min skip 9:20 to 10:40
 http://www.teamorca.org/cfiles/bioluminescence.cfm
 Take the dive to see bioluminescence
 http://www.teamorca.org/cfiles/biolum_how.cfm
 How they make light