Diatom-derived ecological facilitation in Salish Sea plankton communities: A species-specific study
Research Mentor(s)
Brady Olson
Description
Phytoplankton serve as the globally dominant primary producer. They support biologically rich and diverse marine ecosystems like that of the Salish Sea. Much of this primary production can be attributed to planktonic diatoms. Seasonal diatom blooms are commonly followed by the flourishing of other phyla of nano-plankton. We propose a novel hypothesis that diatoms play a facilitative role in Salish Sea phytoplankton, which is contrary to all other publications that have proposed diatoms have an allelopathic effect on competing phytoplankton (Yamasaki et al. 2011; Suikkanen et al. 2011; An et al. 2008). Our preliminary experiment showed significant evidence of diatom-derived chemicals positively affecting the growth rates of four phyla of non-diatom phytoplankton. During this experiment, we observed a dominance of Skeletonema diatoms by the end of our bloom incubation period. Through species-specific growth experiments on a diverse set of nanoplankton, we used this study is to uncover the role of chemical facilitation by diatoms to control planktonic populations in the Salish Sea and whether any species of diatom has a disproportionate influence on this ecological facilitation.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
May 2022
End Date
May 2022
Location
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Department
CSE - Biology
Genre/Form
student projects; posters
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Diatom-derived ecological facilitation in Salish Sea plankton communities: A species-specific study
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Phytoplankton serve as the globally dominant primary producer. They support biologically rich and diverse marine ecosystems like that of the Salish Sea. Much of this primary production can be attributed to planktonic diatoms. Seasonal diatom blooms are commonly followed by the flourishing of other phyla of nano-plankton. We propose a novel hypothesis that diatoms play a facilitative role in Salish Sea phytoplankton, which is contrary to all other publications that have proposed diatoms have an allelopathic effect on competing phytoplankton (Yamasaki et al. 2011; Suikkanen et al. 2011; An et al. 2008). Our preliminary experiment showed significant evidence of diatom-derived chemicals positively affecting the growth rates of four phyla of non-diatom phytoplankton. During this experiment, we observed a dominance of Skeletonema diatoms by the end of our bloom incubation period. Through species-specific growth experiments on a diverse set of nanoplankton, we used this study is to uncover the role of chemical facilitation by diatoms to control planktonic populations in the Salish Sea and whether any species of diatom has a disproportionate influence on this ecological facilitation.