Biodiversity
and
ecology
Climate change
Ecosystem health
Marine microbes
Monitoring
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Water quality
Effect on foodwebs
Impact of aquaculture
Impact of runoff
Inshore reef monitoring
Marine Blueprint
Water quality monitoring
Chlorophyll
monitoring
Darwin Harbour
Douglas Shire CD
GBR ocean observing
Reef plan monitoring
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Water quality
________________________________________________________________________
Effects on
Food Webs
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The
central
goal
of the
Water
Quality
and
Ecosystem
Health
team
is to
understand
spatial
and
temporal
patterns
of
water
quality
in
tropical
marine
waters
and to
understand
and
forecast
the
responses
to
these
patterns
of key
organisms,
communities
and
the
foodwebs
they
form.
Oceanic
food
webs
are
based
on two
crucial
forms
of
food:
tiny
single-celled
aquatic
plants
called
phytoplankton;
and
bacteria
that
live
on
organic
molecules
in
seawater.
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These
primary
producers
are
the
basis
of
two
food
web
models:
Firstly,
there
is
the
"classical
food
web",
in
which
larger
phytoplankton
are
grazed
by
animals
such
as
multi-celled
zooplankton,
that
are
then
available
to
higher
levels
of
the
food
chain
including
plankton-eating
fish
such
as
anchovies.
These
fish
in
turn
become
prey
to
the
biggest
fish
and
marine
mammals.
Secondly,
there
is the
"microbial
loop",
in
which
single-celled
organisms
graze
on
small
phytoplankton
and
energy
is
recycled
through
microscopic
organisms.
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Advances
in
instrumentation
since
the
late
1970s
have
opened
a
window
on the
tiny
world
of the
smallest
plankton,
known
as
picoplankton,
which
are
measured
at
between
0.2
and
2.0
micrometres
(a
micrometre
is
one-millionth
of a
metre).
Examples
include
the
common
cyanobacterium
Synechococcus.
These
and
other
bacteria
play a
central
role
in the
ocean’s
food
webs
and
are
now
known
to
contribute
50 to
80 per
cent
of
total
primary
production
in the
open
ocean.
They
are
responsible
for
capturing
300
million
tonnes
of
carbon
per
year
from
the
atmosphere.
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AIMS/UWA
postdoctoral
fellow
Dr
Nicole
Patten
counting
picoplankton
with a
flow
cytometer
on
board
RV
Solander.
Image:
David
McKinnon. |
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Microbial
food
web
interactions
are
the
dominant
nutritional
pathways
in
most
open
ocean
systems.
Marine
viruses
are
also
important
in
this
system
in
regulating
population
size
of
picoplankton.
Given
the
recognition
of the
importance
of
picoplankton
primary
production
in the
world’s
oceans,
AIMS
scientists
are
interested
in
determining
both
the
role
of
these
organisms
in the
food
web
and
the
extent
of
their
mortality
caused
by
viruses.
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A
marine
virus.
Image:
Nicole
Patten.
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Collecting
depth
stratified
plankton
samples
on RV
Solander.
Image:
David
McKinnon. |
Paracalanus
aculeatus,
a
common
marine
copepod.
Copepods
are
the
most
numerous
multi-celled
animals
in the
world,
and
are
sometimes
referred
to as
"the
insects
of the
sea".
Image:
Samantha
Talbot. |
 Go back
September
26, 2008
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