Vertical migration by bulk phytoplankton sustains biodiversity and nutrient input to the surface ocean.

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton subsumes the great variety of unicellular photoautotrophs that perform roughly half of Earth's primary production. They achieve this despite their challenging oceanic habitat, with opposing vertical gradients of nutrients (which often limit their growth near the surface) and light (which becomes limiting with increasing depth). Most phytoplankton species are commonly assumed to be incapable of moving actively between the zones of light and nutrient availability, which are separated vertically by from 30-120 m. Here we propose that a considerable fraction of phytoplankton vertically traverse these gradients over time scales from hours to weeks, employing variations of a common migration strategy to acquire multiple resources. We present a mechanistic Lagrangian model resolving

SUBMITTER: Wirtz K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6981162 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature