Ocean food source lives by day, dies by night
Cyanobacteria’s cycle provides stability for food webs
One of the oceans’ most abundant food sources lives and dies like clockwork.
Hundreds of millions of the cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus grow in every liter of seawater during the day, and about the same number are killed or consumed every night, scientists report online June 15 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The bacteria, each less than 1 micrometer long, convert sunlight into carbon forms that feed other organisms, supporting food webs in the low-nutrient waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Their consistent cycle of growth and death may stabilize marine ecosystems, even under the effects of global warming.