Deuterium in marine organic biomarkers: toward a new tool for quantifying aquatic mixotrophy.

ABSTRACT: The traditional separation between primary producers (autotrophs) and consumers (heterotrophs) at the base of the marine food web is being increasingly replaced by the paradigm that mixoplankton, planktonic protists with the nutritional ability to use both phago(hetero)trophy and photo(auto)trophy to access energy are widespread globally. Thus, many 'phytoplankton' eat, while 50% of 'protozooplankton' also perform photosynthesis. Mixotrophy may enhance primary production, biomass transfer to higher trophic levels and the efficiency of the biological pump to sequester atmospheric CO₂ into the deep ocean. Although this view is gaining traction, science lacks a tool to quantify the relative contributions of autotrophy and heterotrophy in planktonic protists. This hinders our unders

SUBMITTER: Cormier MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9310953 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature