Iron Fertilisation and Algal Blooms

Phytoplankton are microscopic photosynthesising organisms which live in water. In favourable environmental conditions they have a very high rate of reproduction. They are eaten by microscopic animals called zooplankton. In an investigation, samples of water were removed from a lake at intervals over a twelve-month period and the biomasses of these organisms were determined. The results are shown in the graph.

“Since the beginning of the industrial era, the ocean has absorbed some 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, presently around 22 million tons per day” (Ocean Portal, n.d). This number is expected to increase forevermore as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase and the effects of Climate Change worsen. At first, the idea of our oceans absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere may sound great, however, scientists have been quick to learn otherwise. High concentrations of carbon dioxide in oceans can have detrimental effects on the ocean chemistry and marine ecosystems (Hardt; Safina, 2008). Marine ecosystems are greatly complex and depend on every marine organism to function properly, any change can put the whole ecosystem at risk. For example, the increase of carbon dioxide in our oceans is responsible for the dissolving of “brittle star” skeletal parts, which has in effect caused food scarcity for many fish, crabs, shrimp, and other starfish (Leu, 2013). Furthermore, these marine ecosystems are very important to humans- being the primary food source for millions around the world and having an economic market worth trillions of dollars (Hardt; Safina, 2008). Part of keeping these ecosystems safe is to understand how they work and how projected changes can harm marine organisms.

Floras and microbes are additional main biotic mechanisms of many oceanic ecosystems. Microbes act as decomposers for oceanic ecosystems, and they break defunct living matter and transforms it into vitality that is used by other existing organisms in the oceanic ecosystem. Detrivores, which are a type of animal, also eat deceased or putrefying plants and animal matter. Algae, which are autotrophs, appear as the head herbal vivacity and primary producers in oceanic ecosystems. The sunlight transforms the light into energy for nourishment for marine plants. Heat and light are focal abiotic factors discovered in essentially all oceanic ecosystems, consequently oceanic ecosystems has some broaden abiotic mechanisms, comprising viscosity and many more. The power that the bulk of an organism is called buoyancy. The durability of the drive of seawater is called viscosity. These abiotic factors source to the drive of all organisms in oceanic systems. Sunlight pierces the sea exterior only about 65 feet. As there is more salt in the Great Barrier Reef than in other oceanic ecosystems the marine holds less oxygen than the

In recent years the amount of Phytoplankton (Plankton) in our oceans have seen such a dramatic decline that in the future it will pose a great threat to the ways in which our world functions. Specifically speaking, all living beings from microscopic algae to marine mammals, seabirds, fish and humans will meet a great demise. From Dalhousie University a research was conducted where lead author Daniel Boyce said: ‘Phytoplankton is the fuel on which marine ecosystems run. A decline in phytoplankton affects everything up the food chain, including humans.’ Many people are unaware of the major contribution to our survival that the phytoplankton provide for us. Alone, it is responsible for 50% of the oxygen we breath in our atmosphere while tropical

In the course of the past year or so, the world has under gone immense natural disasters. Including but not limited to: hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires, blizzards, and more. These unfortunate events all have a source of which they occurred. At the same time, the world’s oceans have under gone less noticeable but apparent changes as well. These changes include temperature variations, heightened acidification, intensified salinity, and more. However, a specific issue is the effect of Indiana’s activities impacting ocean life through nutrient and sediment pollution. There is a multifarious number of reasons that could affect ocean life, even in Indiana, which one will discuss throughout this report. One will describe sediment runoff, the

Iron is an essential mineral in the body and there is iron in all cells in the body. It is the mineral that should be in our diet, it is necessary for transport of oxygen through hemoglobin. Iron is also vital for oxidation by cell.3 Dietary iron consist of two forms: heme or organic iron is found in animal product such as meat and fish which attached to proteins called heme proteins. None heme iron is found in vegetable such as bean and spinach. Heme iron is typically absorbed at a higher rate (20%) rather than non heme iron (2%).4

The discovery of the hydrothermal vents along the Galapagos Riff led to the identification of chemoautotrophic symbiosis. These vents are widespread along the sea floor. They release sulfide, methane, and heat from beneath the Earth’s crust, they provide homes for the organisms to attach to and food for them to consume. The chemotrophs use the elements and energy within these vents as food and cycle the energy up the food chain. Iron

Pollution in surface water can cause nitrates and other nutrients to build up. Ammonia is frequently locate in surface waters surrounding CAFOs. Ammonia grounds oxygen depletion from water, which itself can kill aquatic life existance. Ammonia also converts into nitrates, that could reason nutrient overloads in surface waters (EPA, 1998). Extreme nutrient concentrations, which include nitrogen or phosphorus, can lead to eutrophication and make water inhabitable to fish or indigenous aquatic life (Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, n.d.). Nutrient over-enrichment reasons of algal blooms, or a rapid growth of algae in an aquatic atmosphere (Science Daily, n.d.). Algal blooms can bring a spiral of environmental dificulties to an aquatic system. Huge

Iron is one of the most important nutrients that are necessary for phytoplankton. This nutrient can be found short in supply where stratification has occurred in ocean waters.

Since phytoplankton live in a variety of environments, future studies can factor in comparisons of different species of phytoplankton and see how treatments such as these affect each one. Continuing using controlled studies is important. Using actual physical environments can pose problems. These problems could stem from unpredictable weather, oceanographic conditions, and hard to define taxonomy of these phytoplankton (Cloern and Nichols 1985). If studies continue to us the phytoplankton chlorophyte, Tetraselmis spp. , you can add in the factor of salinity into the experiment. This species is known to withstand many different salinity levels (Fabregas et. al.1984) and seeing how that might affect data would be an interesting path future studies can

As we all know, efforts to reverse declination of worldwide fish stocks resulting from over fishing has led to an exploitation of the world’s fisheries. Nearly a third of the marine fish stocks has been overfished thereby influencing the destruction of ocean ecosystems. Secondary to over fishing is climate change. Increasing global temperatures coupled with increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) is changing the marine landscape as we know it. Severe changes in ocean pH, temperature and salinity may in effect significantly reduce or eliminate populations of oxygen producing phytoplanktons. These single cell organisms produce more than 70 percent of oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of our ocean

Since the beginning of the human race, the ocean has been a major source of food. People near the shores have been taking of advantage of the ocean’s rich and diverse source of nourishment for centuries, both as a source of food and a livelihood. However, since the dawn of the industrial age, humans have begun to take from the ocean more that it can give. As a result, the ocean can no longer provide the human race with the abundance that it once did. As technology rapidly advances, populations skyrocket, and global warming spreads havoc, the ocean’s biodiversity and once abundant supply of fish is dwindling, calling marine scientists and experts to race to find solutions that will restore the oceans health while battling world hunger.

Ocean pollution is one of the most urgent issues in our world today. The ocean is crucial to our ecosystem and it is being severely damaged at an alarmingly increasing rate. In this paper I will educate about the role the ocean plays in our beautiful Earth, why it is being so widely ignored and dismissed, the causes of pollution, and its effects on animals and humans alike.

The Aquatic crustacean Artemia Franciscana is a significant organism for models in scientific studies on ecology and phycology and has increasingly been exploited for use in aquaculture as a commercial resource (Irwin, S., Wall, V. & Davenport, J. 2007). Artemia Franciscana commonly referred to as brine shrimp are widely distributed in inland salt water bodied niches of lakes and estuarine areas around the world where their main nutritional sources are obtained (Irwin, S., Wall, V. & Davenport, J. 2007). In these ecological niches they experience large fluctuations in their physicochemical environments, predominantly temperature, nutrition, salinity and oxygen tension (Irwin, S., Wall, V. & Davenport, J. 2007). Artemia Franciscana is considered a phagotrophic filter feeder (Evjemo, J.O. & Olsen, Y. 1999) which uses its larval antennae to start ingesting food (Evjemo, J.O. & Olsen, Y. 1999). The optimal temperature for growth in Artemia Franciscana ranges between 25 and 30oC (Evjemo, J.O. & Olsen, Y. 1999). Among these various factors affecting aquatic species, the level of nutrition quality is paramount to metabolic rates and fecundity. Every animal has different nutritional targets that are needed for optimal performance function (McGrill, 2010). Nutrition quality is broken into two main components of energy content, micro and macro nutrients

A excess of iron can inhibit plant growth, also hindering photosynthetic electron transport. An excess can also cause iron poisoning which causes the plants to change in colour from green to yellow and the growth of the plant to be stunted. Increased levels of iron can similarly cause a huge drop in plant's seed germination and iron intake