Juju
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Publicado: 6 de diciembre de 2012
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Scientists Discover 1.5 Million New Species Of Plankton And . . . . . Lots Of Plastic!
By Meera Dolasia on September 30, 2012
For the last two and a half years, 15 scientists have beenscouring the oceans in search of some of earth's smallest but most important organisms - Plankton. Theexhaustive research has revealed some great news and some, not so encouraging.
The Tara Oceansexpedition was the eighth in a series of research trips undertaken by a group of the world's best physical oceanographers, marine biologists, imaging specialists and molecular biologists to observe anddocument our changing environment and also, learn more the Earth's complex yet fragile ecosystem.
While past expeditions have focused on particular areas like Greenland, Antarcticaand Patagonia, thislatest one that lasted 938 days was an excursion all around the world. Its mission was to understand the evolution and ecology of the many tiny organisms collectively known as plankton. The expeditionreturned to Lorient, France on March 31st, 2012 after which, began the arduous task of analyzing the data.
In total, the researchers collected about 27,000 samples from 152 areas - all the way from theMediterranean Sea to the Pacific, Atlantic and even the Antarctic Ocean and, from 35 depths ranging from the surface of the water all the way down to a kilometer deep. The scientists first sorted outthe organisms by size and then classified them with the help of automated imaging systems.
What they unveiled was encouraging - Over 1.5 million new species of Plankton. The smaller ones were ofcourse more abundant in the number of species, as well as, count. They also found some unexpected cohabitant patterns - Some of the organisms liked to live together, while others, not so much. As onewould expect the diversity also varied depending on the temperature, depth and acidity levels of the water.
The scientists are hoping that further research will reveal the exact factors that...
Scientists Discover 1.5 Million New Species Of Plankton And . . . . . Lots Of Plastic!
By Meera Dolasia on September 30, 2012
For the last two and a half years, 15 scientists have beenscouring the oceans in search of some of earth's smallest but most important organisms - Plankton. Theexhaustive research has revealed some great news and some, not so encouraging.
The Tara Oceansexpedition was the eighth in a series of research trips undertaken by a group of the world's best physical oceanographers, marine biologists, imaging specialists and molecular biologists to observe anddocument our changing environment and also, learn more the Earth's complex yet fragile ecosystem.
While past expeditions have focused on particular areas like Greenland, Antarcticaand Patagonia, thislatest one that lasted 938 days was an excursion all around the world. Its mission was to understand the evolution and ecology of the many tiny organisms collectively known as plankton. The expeditionreturned to Lorient, France on March 31st, 2012 after which, began the arduous task of analyzing the data.
In total, the researchers collected about 27,000 samples from 152 areas - all the way from theMediterranean Sea to the Pacific, Atlantic and even the Antarctic Ocean and, from 35 depths ranging from the surface of the water all the way down to a kilometer deep. The scientists first sorted outthe organisms by size and then classified them with the help of automated imaging systems.
What they unveiled was encouraging - Over 1.5 million new species of Plankton. The smaller ones were ofcourse more abundant in the number of species, as well as, count. They also found some unexpected cohabitant patterns - Some of the organisms liked to live together, while others, not so much. As onewould expect the diversity also varied depending on the temperature, depth and acidity levels of the water.
The scientists are hoping that further research will reveal the exact factors that...
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