Marine and coastal ecosystems

Marine and coastal ecosystems sit at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and physics, where microscopic organisms like phytoplankton drive the oceanic carbon cycle by fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide and forming the base of nearly all marine food webs. Dissolved organic matter, nutrient availability, and temperature together govern how productive these systems are — and disruptions such as eutrophication and harmful algal blooms can rapidly destabilize oxygen levels, fisheries, and coastal economies. As global warming alters ocean stratification and nutrient dynamics, researchers are working to understand whether marine biological productivity will increase or decline across different regions, and how those shifts will feed back into the global climate. Central open questions include how nutrient limitation interacts with warming to reshape phytoplankton communities, and whether the ocean's capacity to absorb and store carbon will weaken as these ecosystems come under greater stress.

Works

155,825

Total citations

3,683,268

Keywords

Dissolved Organic MatterEutrophicationHarmful Algal BloomsOceanic Carbon CyclePhytoplanktonGlobal Warming