Archive for go-ship

Bacterial fingerprints as a tool for large-scale functional ecology

Posted by Dina Pandya 
· Monday, September 20th, 2021 

Unravelling the relationship between biological diversity and ecosystem functions is a timeless question which dates back to the expeditions of Alexander von Humboldt in the early 1800’. At the base of the marine foodweb, marine prokaryotes are essential for ecosystem functioning. Measuring their biogeography and functional traits therefore merits investigation as alterations in their alpha and beta diversities could lead to changes in the fluxes of oceanic biogeochemical cycles that sustain the life on Earth.

In a new article, published in Nature Communications, the authors used the genetic fingerprint of marine bacteria to predict their metabolic profiles from the ice edge to the equator in the Pacific Ocean. Their research showed that low-cost, high-throughput bacterial marker gene data can be used as a tool for large-scale functional ecology. They tackled five hypotheses and show how biological diversity influences functional diversity, and how these are related to energy production in the ocean. The authors, furthermore, highlight how -  can be nicely integrated with the physical and chemical sampling programs during global ocean monitoring campaigns such as GO-SHIP and GEOTRACES.

Increasing our understanding how bacterial diversity impacts the functional diversity of ecosystems has also broader implications. For example, bacterial fingerprints can help us to improve marine ecosystem monitoring programs, especially in coastal zones and estuaries where the input of nitrogen is predicted to increase. Assessing the changes in the bacterial diversity can also help to assess the environmental footprint of aquaculture cages, which are a source of nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus and have been shown to deteriorate the water quality and life higher up the food chain.

Figure caption: The P15S GO-SHIP line from the ice-edge to the equator along 170o W in the South Pacific Ocean (a). Sea surface temperatures and salinity (b) and a conceptual picture of the functional prokaryotic and microbial-eukaryotic biogeography (c). In winter heterotrophic prokaryotes (blue rods) recycle the organic matter produced in the summer and autumn months in the high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) region of the Southern Ocean (SO). Turbulence and mixing (curved arrows) in the sub-tropical front (STF) results in high primary productivity (PP) driven by phytoplankton rich in chlorophyll-a (green discs). The South Pacific Subtropical Gyre Province (SPSG) is characterized by nutrient co-limitation, low PP, and higher abundances of photosynthetic prokaryotes (yellow circles). The Pacific Equatorial Divergence (PED) is characterized by equatorial upwelling which results in an increase of the N:P ratio in the mixed layer (MLD) relative to the SPSG (d), and results in increased chlorophyll-a concentrations and PP. The MLD is shown as a thick white line. CTD stations (small gray dots), sampling stations for 16S rRNA data (large gray circles) and shotgun metagenome samples (yellow stars) are shown on panel d.

 

Authors:
Eric J. Raes (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Australia; Dalhousie University, Canada)
Kristen Karsh (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Australia)
Swan L. S. Sow (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Australia; University of Tasmania, Hobart; NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The Netherlands)
Martin Ostrowski (University of Technology Sydney, Australia)
Mark V. Brown (The University of Newcastle, Australia)
Jodie van de Kamp (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Australia)
Rita M. Franco-Santos (University of Tasmania, Australia)
Levente Bodrossy (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Australia)
Anya M. Waite (Dalhousie University, Canada)

 

Read this related general audience article in The Conversation

Want to read more about the P15S line?

Raes, E. J., Bodrossy, L., Van De Kamp, J., Bissett, A., Ostrowski, M., Brown, M. V., ... & Waite, A. M. (2018). Oceanographic boundaries constrain microbial diversity gradients in the South Pacific Ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(35), E8266-E8275.

Raes, E. J., van de Kamp, J., Bodrossy, L., Fong, A. A., Riekenberg, J., Holmes, B. H., ... & Waite, A. M. (2020). N2 fixation and new insights into nitrification from the ice-edge to the equator in the South Pacific Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 389.

Sow, S. L., Trull, T. W., & Bodrossy, L. (2020). Oceanographic Fronts Shape Phaeocystis Assemblages: A High-Resolution 18S rRNA Gene Survey From the Ice-Edge to the Equator of the South Pacific. Frontiers in microbiology, 11, 1847.

Regional circulation changes and a growing atmospheric CO2 concentration drive accelerated anthropogenic carbon uptake in the South Pacific

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 

About one tenth of human CO2 emissions are currently being taken up by the Pacific Ocean, which makes the seawater more corrosive to the calcium carbonate shells and skeletons of the plants and animals that live there. Now, thanks to hard work by international teams of scientists from the Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP), there are decades of data, enough to test how much this anthropogenic CO2 accumulation varies throughout the Pacific Ocean and regionally on the timescales of decades.

 

Figure caption: Map of the concentration of human-emitted CO2 along the sections where data were available from more than one decade, estimated for the year 2015.

Using a new take on an old technique, along with a wide variety of repeat biogeochemical measurements, a study in Biogeochemical Cycles revealed that Pacific anthropogenic CO2 accumulation increased from the 1995-2005 decade to the 2005-2015 decade. While the magnitude of the decadal increase was consistent with increases in human CO2 emissions over this period for most of the Pacific, the rate of change was greater than expected in the South Pacific subtropical gyre. The authors suggest that recent increases in circulation in the gyre region could have delivered an unexpectedly large amount of anthropogenic CO2-laden seawater from the surface to the ocean interior. Programs like GO-SHIP will continue to be critical for tracking the fate of human CO2 emissions and associated feedbacks on climate and marine ecosystems.

 

Authors:
B. R. Carter (Univ. Washington and PMEL)
R. A. Feely, G. C. Johnson, J. L. Bullister (PMEL)
R. Wanninkhof (NOAA AOML)
S. Kouketsu, A. Murata (JAMSTEC
R. E. Sonnerup, S. Mecking (Univ. Washington)
P. C. Pardo (Univ. Tasmania)
C. L. Sabine (Univ. Hawai‘i, Mānoa)
B. M. Sloyan, B. Tilbrook (CSIRO, Australia)
K. Speer (Florida State University
L. D. Talley (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
F. J. Millero (Univ. Miami)
S. E. Wijffels (CSIRO and WHOI)
A. M. Macdonald (WHOI)
N. Gruber (ETH Zurich)

Filter by Keyword

abundance acidification africa air-sea interactions air-sea interface alkalinity allometry ammonium AMOC anoxia anoxic Antarctic anthropogenic carbon aquaculture aragonite saturation arctic arsenic Atlantic Atlantic modeling atmospheric carbon atmospheric CO2 atmospheric nitrogen deposition authigenic carbonates autonomous platforms bacteria BATS benthic bgc argo bio-go-ship bio-optical bioavailability biogeochemical cycles biogeochemical models biogeochemistry Biological Essential Ocean Variables biological pump biological uptake biophysics bloom blooms blue carbon bottom water boundary layer buffer capacity C14 CaCO3 calcification calcite carbon-climate feedback carbon-sulfur coupling carbon budget carbon cycle carbon dioxide carbon sequestration carbon storage Caribbean CCA CCS changi changing marine ecosystems changing ocean chemistry chemoautotroph chesapeake bay chl a chlorophyll circulation climate change CO2 coastal darkening coastal ocean cobalt Coccolithophores community composition conservation cooling effect copepod coral reefs currents cyclone data product DCM decomposers decomposition deep convection deep ocean deep sea coral deoxygenation depth diagenesis diatoms DIC diel migration dimethylsulfide dinoflagellate dissolved inorganic carbon dissolved organic carbon DOC DOM domoic acid dust DVM earth system models ecosystem state eddy Education Ekman transport emissions ENSO enzyme equatorial regions error ESM estuarine and coastal carbon fluxes estuary euphotic zone eutrophication evolution export EXPORTS extreme events extreme weather events faecal pellets filter feeders filtration rates fire fish Fish carbon fisheries floats fluid dynamics fluorescence food webs forams freshening freshwater frontal zone fronts functional role future oceans geochemistry geoengineering GEOTRACES glaciers gliders global carbon budget global warming go-ship grazing greenhouse gas Greenland groundwater Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf Stream gyre harmful algal bloom high latitude human food human impact hurricane hydrothermal hypoxia ice age ice cores ice cover industrial onset inverse circulation iron iron fertilization isotopes jellies katabatic winds kelvin waves krill kuroshio land-ocean continuum larvaceans lateral transport LGM lidar ligands light light attenuation lipids mangroves marine carbon cycle marine heatwave marine snowfall marshes Mediterranean meltwater mesopelagic mesoscale metagenome metals methane methods microbes microlayer microorganisms microscale microzooplankton midwater mixed layer mixed layers mixotrophy modeling mode water molecular diffusion MPT multi-decade n2o NAAMES NASA NCP net community production new technology nitrate nitrogen nitrogen fixation nitrous oxide north atlantic north pacific nutricline nutrient budget nutrient cycling nutrient limitation nutrients OA ocean-atmosphere ocean acidification ocean carbon uptake and storage ocean color ocean observatories ODZ oligotrophic omics OMZ open ocean optics organic particles overturning circulation oxygen pacific paleoceanography particle flux pCO2 PDO peat pelagic pH phenology phosphorus photosynthesis physical processes physiology phytoplankton plankton POC polar regions pollutants prediction primary productivity Prochlorococcus proteins pteropods pycnocline radioisotopes remineralization remote sensing repeat hydrography residence time resource management respiration resuspension rivers rocky shore Rossby waves Ross Sea ROV salinity salt marsh satell satellite scale seafloor seagrass sea ice sea level rise seasonal patterns sea spray seaweed sediments sensors shelf system shells ship-based observations shorelines silicate sinking particles size SOCCOM soil carbon southern ocean south pacific spatial covariations speciation SST stoichiometry subduction submesoscale subpolar subtropical sulfate surf surface surface ocean Synechococcus teleconnections temperate temperature temporal covariations thermocline thermohaline thorium tidal time-series time of emergence top predators total alkalinity trace elements trace metals trait-based transfer efficiency transient features trophic transfer tropical turbulence twilight zone upper ocean upper water column upwelling US CLIVAR validation velocity gradient ventilation vertical flux vertical migration vertical transport volcano warming water clarity water quality western boundary currents wetlands winter mixing zooplankton

Copyright © 2022 - OCB Project Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Rd, MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA Phone: 508-289-2838  •  Fax: 508-457-2193  •  Email: ocb_news@us-ocb.org

link to nsflink to noaalink to WHOI

Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.