The Project: Research Questions

autotroph:
an organism that makes organic material from inorganic material. Autotrophs are “primary producers.” Plants, phytoplankton, and some bacteria are autotrophs.

biogeochemical:
study of biology, geology, and chemistry in some part of the Earth’s system

diversity:
variety

ecosystem:
a community of organisms and its surroundings

heterotroph:
an organism that obtains its organic matter from other living things. Heterotrophs are “consumers.” They get their organic matter from autotrophs.

hypothesis:
a possible explanation to be tested

phytoplankton:
small plants (best seen with a microscope) floating in the upper layer of the ocean

upwelling:
the process of movement of deeper, cooler layers of ocean water up to the ocean surface. “Upwelled” water often is rich in nutrients.

Question one:

Bacteria in the ocean may be dead, dying, dormant, active, or highly active. Just because a cell is present in the water, it does not mean it is involved in biogeochemical processes. We are looking at the variability in activity of heterotrophic bacteria. Are there differences in the diversity of active cells in different ecosystems? In other words, who are the active cells?

So, what are heterotrophic bacteria?

Living things sometimes are given names according to their way of getting nutrition or “food.”

Autotroph

“Auto” means “self” and “troph” means “needs.”

So, an autotroph (self + needs) produces its own food. An autotroph gets its nutrition without the help of other life forms. Autrotrophs do not require other life forms to get the carbon they need because there is plenty of carbon dioxide available in the environment.

Heterotroph

“Hetero” means “other” and “troph” means “needs.”

So, a heterotroph (other + needs) feeds on other organisms. Heterotrophs cannot produce their own food.

Question two:

Small phytoplankton are not found in high numbers close to the coast. One hypothesis is they are not able to tolerate high metal concentrations in the upwelled water found close to the coast. We will look at whether metals, such as cadmium and copper, effect the growth of small phytoplankton.