Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

In Situ Phytoplankton Analysis: There’S Plenty Of Room At The Bottom, Jeffrey S. Erickson, Nicole N. Hashemi, James M. Sullivan, Alan D. Weidemann, Frances S. Ligler

Nastaran Hashemi

Approximately 70% of the earth is covered with water, within which the most dominant organism is phytoplankton. Not only is phytoplankton at the base of the marine food web, but it also fixes excess carbon dioxide and regulates sulfur on a global scale.1 Changes in phytoplankton populations have been linked to toxicity to humans and marine life, pollution, and global climate change.2 Routine monitoring of both fresh and salt water ecosystems has been taking place formany years, with consortia set up explicitly for this purpose. Consensus indicates that five categories of information are useful for early warning systems.3,4 These are …