Patchiness of plankton ecosystem structure due to nutrient mixing along the shelf edge in the North Sea.

Mid-water column turbulence has been shown to cause elevated vertical nutrient flux at the shelf edge in the northeastern North Sea. Here, we demonstrate that phytoplankton communities in this region tend to be dominated by larger cells (estimated from percentage of chlorophyll captured on a 10 μm filter) than beyond the shelf edge. F/F (PSII electron transport capacity) corrected for photoinhibition in the surface layer correlated in this study with the percentage of chlorophyll captured on a 10 µm filter (assumed to be large cells), suggesting that the phytoplankton community was responding to increased nutrients in the euphotic zone by increasing photosynthetic efficiency and altering community composition.

Comparative Analysis of Fatty Acid Bioaccessibility in Commercial Marine Oil Supplements: An In Vitro Integrated Analytical Study.

Zooplankton such as copepods and krill are currently used to produce marine oil supplements, with the aim of helping consumers achieve the recommended intake of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFAs). Oils from lower trophic levels differ from fish oil in the distribution of lipids into different classes, and this can influence the bioaccessibility of fatty acids, i.e.

Fatty Acid Profiles and Production in Marine Phytoplankton.

Microalgae are the primary producers of carbon in marine ecosystems, fixing carbon and subsequently generating various biomolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Most importantly, microalgae are the generators and main suppliers of ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3PUFA) in the marine ecosystem, which have a fundamental importance for the functioning and quality of the whole marine food web. A meta-analysis of over 160 fatty acid profiles of 7 marine phytoplankton phyla reveals not only a phyla-specific, but also a highly class-specific PUFA production of marine phytoplankton.

Seasonal copepod lipid pump promotes carbon sequestration in the deep North Atlantic.

Estimates of carbon flux to the deep oceans are essential for our understanding of global carbon budgets. Sinking of detrital material ("biological pump") is usually thought to be the main biological component of this flux. Here, we identify an additional biological mechanism, the seasonal "lipid pump," which is highly efficient at sequestering carbon into the deep ocean.