Determining the links between size and function in phytoplankton

海洋浮游植物负责地球上约50%的碳固定。该项目将研究浮游植物大小的下降将如何改变海洋食物网和碳固存。营养物质和温度的变化会导致浮游植物变小，但这些变化的后果是不确定的，因为缺乏关于细胞大小变化如何影响物种功能的知识。该项目将把20种藻类进化成不同的大小，并估计这些大小变化对生物功能的影响。然后，该项目将利用这些数据来完善全球碳预算模型，从而更好地预测全球碳泵将如何变化。

Marine phytoplankton are responsible for around 50% of the carbon fixation on planet. This project will examine how phytoplankton size declines will alter marine food webs and carbon sequestration. Changes in nutrients and temperature will cause phytoplankton to be smaller but the consequences of these changes are uncertain because of a lack of knowledge regarding how changes in cell size affect function within a species. This project will evolve 20 species of algae to be different sizes and estimate the consequences of these size changes for biological functions. The project will then use these data to refine global models of carbon budgets, leading to better predictions about how the global carbon pump will change.