Title: Phytoplankton
1Phytoplankton
2Marine Plants
- Prokaryotes
- Archaea
- Bacteria
- Heterotrophic Bacteria
- Autotrophic Bacteria
- Cyanobacteria
- Eukaryotes
- Unicellular Eukaryotes
- Multicellular Eukaryotes
- Multicellular Algae (Seaweeds)
- True Marine Plants
Phytoplankton
3Archaea
- Look similar to bacteria - were only recently
classified separately - Decomposers
- Live in extreme environments
http//www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/archaea/archaeamm.htm
l
4Bacteria
- All prokaryotes and unicellular
- Very small, most less than 1 ?m
- Found everywhere
- Very abundant - 106 bacteria/ml
5Bacteria
- Heterotrophic Bacteria
- Decomposers
- Recycle Nutrients
- Autotrophic Bacteria
- Chemosynthetic Bacteria
- Cyanobacteria
http//www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/imagsmall/bact
eria2.jpg
6Cyanobacteria
- Prokaryotic primary producers
- The smallest, simplest phytoplankton
- Major Types
- Prochlorococcus
- Synechococcus
- Nitrogen Fixers (Trichodesmium)
http//scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/images/c
ell.jpg
7Cyanobacteria
- What are the advantages and disadvantages to
being small as phytoplankton? - Where would cyanobacteria thrive in the ocean?
8Eukaryotic Phytoplankton
- Unicellular
- Chloroplasts
- Evolved from endosymbiosis
- Major Types
- Diatoms
- Dinoflagellates
- Coccolithophores
- Others
9Diatoms
- Vary in size from a few ?m to over 1mm
- Very important in coastal and other upwelling
regions - form large blooms - Many form chains
- Cell enclosed by a silica frustule (test)
http//oceanandair.coas.oregonstate.edu/images/use
rimages/StudentsInTheField/diatoms_noaa_239x157.jp
g
http//thalassa.gso.uri.edu/ESphyto/sizeshap/shape
.htm
10Diatoms
- Silica Frustule
- Upper and lower frustules join like a pillbox
- 2 major shapes - pennate or centric
- Perforated
- Often ornamented with spines
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12Diatom Reproduction
- Explosive population growth
13Diatoms
- Where and would we expect to find blooms of
diatoms? - How would an abundance of diatoms affect a marine
ecosystem?
14Dinoflagellates
- Motile
- Have 2 flagella (one longitudinal and one
transverse) - What advantages are there to being motile?
http//webs.lander.edu/rsfox/rsfoximages1/protozoa
143L_x550_x_289x.gif
15Dinoflagellates
- Can be autotrophic, heterotrophic, or mixotrophic
- Some have a test known as a theca
http//www.palaeos.org/Dinoflagellata
16Dinoflagellates
- Some can form blooms known as red tides
- Some bloom-forming dinoflagellates can be toxic
- What are the effects of these harmful algal
blooms? - Shellfish poisoning
- Fish kill
- Hypoxia
17Coccolithophores
- Typically smaller than diatoms and
dinoflagellages - Have calcium carbonate (CaCO3) tests made up of
many coccoliths - Can form large blooms
- Tests are preserved in sediments
18Big vs. Small Phytoplankton
- Big
- Defense against predators
- Fast growth when conditions are right
- Small
- Slow Sinking
- High Surface AreaVolume Ratio for Nutrient
Uptake
19Why are phytoplankton important?
- Responsible for 50 of global photosynthesis
- Are the base of the oceanic food web
- Provide much of the worlds oxygen
- Sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide
- Regulate global climate
20Primary Productivity
- What limits primary productivity at different
depths?
http//content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docIdkt167nb66r
chunk.id0doc.viewprint
21Primary Productivity
Desiderio et al., Jounral of Atmospheric and
Oceanic Technology., 1993.
22Primary Productivity
- What limits primary productivity at different
times of the year?
Thurman and Burton, (2001) Introductory
Oceanography., pg. 405
23Primary Productivity