Dual role of the terrigenous material

We evaluated the dual role of the terrigenous material in the structure and metabolism of phytoplankton.

Water at the mouth of the Chubut River after a heavy rain period.

In this work we evaluated the dual role of terrigenous material (i.e., dissolved organic matter, DOM) on the structure (taxonomic composition and cell size) and physiology (photosynthesis and respiration) of a phytoplankton community of the Patagonian coast.  The DOM has a dual role i.e., as an attenuator of solar radiation in the water bodies, and as a source of nutrients.  In our work we found that, in a scenario of global change, with greater inputs of DOM into coastal areas, its role as attenuator turns out to be the most beneficial for the cells, acting as a protector against high radiation levels.

The article was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment (click to the page).

Complete reference

Villafañe, V.E., J. Paczkowska, A. Andersson, C. Durán Romero, M.S. Valiñas & E.W Helbling. 2018. Dual role of DOM in a scenario of global change on photosynthesis and structure of coastal phytoplankton from the South Atlantic Ocean. Science of the Total Environment, 634: 1352-1361.

Funding

This work was supported byAgencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT), The Swedish Secretariat for Environmental Earth System Sciences (SSEESS) – The RoyalSwedish Academy of Sciences, The Swedish Research Programme EcoChange, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Fundación Playa Unión.