Phytoplankton Populations in the Equatorial Pacific: Distributions and Growth Rates from Individual Cell Properties

年美国联合全球海洋通量研究的使命的核心 赤道太平洋是一个了解的组成， 营养丰富的食物网，以及 将碳输送到深海。一种具体 提出的问题是铁的可用性是否 限制了该领域的生产力。该项目将解决 赤道太平洋总体计划的几个方面， 流式细胞仪分析的浮游植物组成， 食物网具体而言，该项目将：（1）测量 的分布、丰度和光散射特性。 微型浮游生物和较大的浮游植物， （2）测量细胞数量的每日变化， 前向光散射（大小）和个体的DNA含量 单元格，可以转换为净和毛 （3）人口增长率;（4）使用 细胞数量和每个细胞的光散射有助于解释光束 衰减测量;（4）测试假设，铁 限制了赤道太平洋浮游植物的生长， 测量每个细胞前向光散射的变化，碳-14 每个细胞的DNA掺入，以及每个细胞的DNA分布， 浮游植物的特定成分，对铁的反应 丰富。 //

Central to the mission of the US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study in the equatorial Pacific is an understanding of the composition of the planktonic food web, and the efficiency with which it transports carbon to the deep ocean. One of the specific questions being posed is whether or not iron availability is limiting productivity in this area. This project will address several dimensions of the overall equatorial Pacific plan through the flow cytometric analysis of the phytoplankton component of the food web. Specifically, the project will: (1) Measure the distribution, abundance, and light scatter properties of the picoplankton, and of the larger phytoplankton, on a transect across the equator; (2) Measure the daily changes in cell number, forward light scatter (size), and DNA content of individual cells, which can be translated into estimates of net and gross population growth rates; (3) Use the measured daily changes in cell number and light scatter per cell to help interpret beam attenuation measurements; (4) Test the hypothesis that iron limits phytoplankton growth in the equatorial Pacific by measuring changes in forward light scatter per cell, carbon-14 incorporation per cell, and the distribution of DNA per cell of specific components of the phytoplankton, in response to iron enrichment. //