life in the oceans

Thirty amphipod experts have been lined up to improve and update the information held in the World Amphipoda database. The aim is to equip the myriad of end-users with the tools and information to identify and differentiate between amphipod species.

Geo-engineering schemes aimed at tackling global warming through artificial iron fertilisation of the oceans would significantly affect deep-sea ecosystems, according to research involving scientists from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) with former Ocean and Earth Science research students of the University of Southampton, also based at the Centre.

A new discovery reveals that the shrimp-like creature at the heart of the Antarctic food chain could play a key role in fertilising the surface waters of Southern Ocean with the essential element iron – stimulating the growth of phytoplankton (microscopic plant-like organisms). This process enhances the ocean’s capacity for natural storage of carbon dioxide.