NARRAGANSETT, R.I., April 8, 2016鈥擜 溏心vlog免费B站 oceanographer is studying microscopic organisms at the bottom of Narragansett Bay that could help determine how climate change is changing the bay鈥檚 ecosystem.
Rebecca Robinson鈥檚 research is on diatoms, single-celled organisms found in abundance in the oceans. Diatoms鈥攁 type of phytoplankton鈥攁re at the base of the food web, feeding everything from zooplankton to fish.
Getting a long-term historical view showing which diatoms are thriving and which ones are in decline could provide insight into the bay鈥檚 health in the face of global warming, says Robinson.
For many years, Robinson and her research team have collected sediment samples on the Bay鈥檚 floor. Back in her lab at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Graduate School of Oceanography, the samples are put in a FloCam, equipment that allows her to rapidly image hundreds of diatoms in a few minutes.
The process allows Robinson and her team from GSO and Brown University to compare current diatom abundance in the water to sediments that go back 300-plus years.
Climate change is warming Narragansett Bay. GSO scientist Jeremy Collie says temperatures in the bay hit record highs and lows in 2015鈥攖he most extreme fluctuations since GSO started surveying the waters 56 years ago.
Indeed, since 1900 the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere has warmed by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in rising sea levels, lessening and intensifying rainfall amounts, and more ocean acidification from carbon emissions. Ocean temperatures worldwide are also changing.
Robinson is still in the preliminary stages of her research, but hopes eventually to determine if the 鈥渄iatom community鈥� is changing and possibly getting smaller鈥攐r if the changes are a natural shift in the ecosystem.
Diatoms are essential to the planet鈥檚 health. They are not only the base of the food chain, they also regulate the air people breathe by consuming carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen through photosynthesis.
Robinson is exploring whether the bay鈥檚 warmer waters are killing off diatoms鈥攁nd also examining the impact of storm runoff and wastewater effluent on the organisms.
鈥淲e know the diatom community is changing,鈥� says Robinson. 鈥淥ut study will allow us to see how far out of the natural bounds these changes might be. If they鈥檙e significantly different from anything we鈥檝e seen in the past, we should be ringing an alarm bell. The Bay鈥檚 health could be at stake.鈥�
Robinson鈥檚 research is supported by the Rhode Island Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research鈥攁 National Science Foundation program鈥攁nd a Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council grant.
Pictured above: Rebecca Robinson, an associate professor in the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Graduate School of Oceanography. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Robinson.