Scientists with the University of Hawaii at Manoa are using Microbes to take a pulse on the ocean’s health. Photoautotrophes are light-loving bacteria that need solar energy to photosynthesize food. Though these microbes are too small to see, they are the very basic element of the ocean’s food chain. Scientists took samples from different areas, and discovered that the presence of morning light causes all the microbes to photosynthesize at the same. Edward DeLong is a Marine Biologist with the Center for Microbial Oceanography at UH Manoa.
DeLong says that monitoring the microbe cycles can help provide early warnings about potential problems in the food chain.
Listen to the complete interview:
Microbe_Patterns.mp3
