OMZs, a Growing Concern
Microorganisms in oceanic oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are vital for nutrient cycling and ecosystem health. In a study presented at the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting, we harnessed the microbial data with bioinformatics to reveal intricate relationships within these vulnerable microbial communities that are facing disruption due to the OMZ expansion that is a direct consequence of warming global temperatures.
We used a pathway-centric approach to analyze microbial community metabolism in the expanding northeast subarctic Pacific Ocean OMZs. Using a powerful bioinformatics pipeline, we analyzed data collected at various stations along the Line P transect, stretching from Saanich Inlet on Vancouver Island to open ocean station “Papa”.
Our analysis uncovered a rich story of delicately balanced microbial communities sharing resources with their neighbours - from sunlit to dark, oxygenated to oxygen-starved, energy rich to energy poor OMZ neighbourhoods, all on the edge of climate change-driven disruption. The metabolic activities of the communities we studied have a profound influence on ecological and climatic balance, and ongoing deoxygenation of these waters due to rising temperatures and changes in ocean circulation could push these ecosystems past a critical point.
Read more here: https://agu.confex.com/agu/os18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/323897
