Seasonality in Ocean Microbial Communities

Abstract

Spring Bloom The spring bloom of plankton in northern seas develops apparently in response to increasing light and to winter weather, which make nutrients available at the surface. This seasonality is important on a global scale because it reflects a tipping point, driven by phytoplankton growth, between CO 2 production and carbon storage. The phenomenon is thus of particular interest in this era of carbon excess. Giovannoni and Vergin (p. 671 ) review what is known about the dynamics of these highly ordered microbial plankton communities, discuss the specialist roles of certain taxa, and reflect on predictions for anthropogenic changes to the oceans and what these might mean for geochemical cycles driven by ocean microbiota.