Researchers from Rutgers University have discovered that iron deficiency can have a detrimental effect on photosynthesis in marine phytoplankton.
The team found that iron plays a crucial role in photosynthesis, and when it is missing or heavily reduced, the process is drastically reduced or halted completely. This can have a profoundly negative impact on phytoplankton, as it affects their growth and survival.
Sadly, research has found that due to climate change, iron deposits are being reduced due to changes in ocean circulation. This, in turn, affects the phytoplankton, which are the building blocks of the food web in the oceans.
The study co-author, Paul Falkowski, the Bennett L. Smith Chair in Business and Natural Resources at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, stated:
“Every other breath you take includes oxygen from the ocean, released from phytoplankton. Our research shows that iron is a limiting factor in phytoplankton’s ability to make oxygen in vast regions of the ocean.
Phytoplankton are the primary source of food for krill, the microscopic shrimp that are the main source of food in the Southern Ocean for virtually every animal, including penguins, seals, walruses and whales. When iron levels drop and the amount of food available for these upper-level animals is lower, the result will be fewer of these majestic creatures.”
While the study’s lead author, Heshani Pupulewatte, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, added:
“We wanted to know what really happens to the energy transfer process at the molecular level of phytoplankton in natural environments. We demonstrated the results of iron stress on phytoplankton out in the ocean, without even bringing back samples to the lab to perform molecular extractions using fluorescence measurements carried out at sea. By doing so, we were able to show that much more energy is wasted as fluorescence when iron is limiting.”
You can find the original research here.
