Global marine temperature fluctuations could mean that tiny Prochlorococcus and other microbes digest double the carbon previously calculated. Carbon dioxide is the leading driver of disruptive climate change.
In making their findings, the researchers have upended a decades-old core principle of marine science known as the Redfield ratio, named for famed oceanographer Alfred Redfield. He concluded in 1934 that from the top of the world's oceans to their cool, dark depths, both plankton and the materials they excrete contain the same ratio (106:16:1) of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous.
…"The Redfield concept remains a central tenet in ocean biology and chemistry. However, we clearly show that the nutrient content ratio in plankton is not constant and thus reject this longstanding central theory for ocean science," said lead author Adam Martiny, associate professor of Earth system science and ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Irvine. "Instead, we show that plankton follow a strong latitudinal pattern."
…Martiny noted that since Redfield first announced his findings, "there have been people over time putting out a flag, saying, 'Hey, wait a minute.'" But for the most part, Redfield's ratio of constant elements is a staple of textbooks and research. In recent years, Martiny said, "a couple of models have suggested otherwise, but they were purely models. This is really the first time it's been shown with observation. That's why it's so important."…
Synechococcus PCC 7002 in bright field microscopy. Imaging was performed with the Olympus BX61 microscope and a UPlanSApo 100× NA 1.40 oil immersion objective (Olympus). Pictures were acquired at room temperature in water with a camera (SPOT; Diagnostic Instruments, Inc.) using MetaMorph software (MDS Analytical Technologies). Shot by Masur, public domain
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