Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
5-8-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 11:00 AM
Subjects
Marine biology
Advisor
Anne Thompson
Student Level
Masters
Abstract
The marine picocyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic cell on Earth. These cells are critical to global primary productivity and are critical to biogeochemical cycles of the open ocean. While abiotic environmental factors that influence Prochlorococcus are relatively well-understood, biotic controls, especially predation, are not well-studied. Appendicularians are ubiquitous invertebrate grazers that feed on microbes including Prochlorococcus in the open ocean. However, the details of this feeding interaction have not been characterized. In a laboratory study, I showed that prey retention of Prochlorococcus increases as the life stage of the appendicularians advances and increases with increasing concentration of prey. I also found that the appendicularians did not select between the most abundant types of Prochlorococcus during feeding. The quantitative insight from this work is critical to filling gaps in existing microbial and carbon models towards accurate prediction of microbial community dynamics and the fate of carbon in our oceans.
Creative Commons License or Rights Statement
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Included in
Variability of Grazing by Appendicularians on Prochlorococcus
The marine picocyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic cell on Earth. These cells are critical to global primary productivity and are critical to biogeochemical cycles of the open ocean. While abiotic environmental factors that influence Prochlorococcus are relatively well-understood, biotic controls, especially predation, are not well-studied. Appendicularians are ubiquitous invertebrate grazers that feed on microbes including Prochlorococcus in the open ocean. However, the details of this feeding interaction have not been characterized. In a laboratory study, I showed that prey retention of Prochlorococcus increases as the life stage of the appendicularians advances and increases with increasing concentration of prey. I also found that the appendicularians did not select between the most abundant types of Prochlorococcus during feeding. The quantitative insight from this work is critical to filling gaps in existing microbial and carbon models towards accurate prediction of microbial community dynamics and the fate of carbon in our oceans.