the Study shows that hoppkräftorna release out the unique substances in the sea and to ämneshalterna is high enough to affect the sea ecosystem, or food web as it is also called. Växtplanktonen, which forms the base of the food chain in the oceans as food, discover hoppkräftornas special fragrance, and do their utmost to avoid being eaten.
– You can compare this with the wolves in Yellowstone national park, they do not eat so many of the great warm months, but the scares more which makes the effect larger. Fear affect simply very many processes, ” says Erik Selander who is a lecturer at the department of marine sciences, university of Gothenburg, who led the study.
releasing into the seawater is called copepodamider. A part of the växtplanktonens defense involves very strong toxins and copepodamiderna can therefore cause far-reaching effects, such as toxic algal blooms.
we have previously not been able to understand. The substance seems to be an important and overlooked mechanism that contributes to toxic algal blooms. These substances may some phytoplankton to produce as much as ten times more venom than normal, ” says Erik Selander.
Växtplanktonens the defense mechanism can consist in that they produce light, bioluminescence, while other plankton uses of chemical or biological warfare and produce poison or shrink in size. Photo: Gothenburg University
to the larger understanding of how ocean ecosystems function, but the process in itself is not new but has been going on in all the world’s oceans for millions of years.
” perhaps What is most fascinating is that the substances are so potent, it is enough with very little to get large volumes of water to react. The amount of copepodamid that would fit in a saltkorn is enough to get växtplanktonen in an entire swimming pool to mobilize their defenses. And because växtplanktonen in the sea is the basis for all life in the sea, so will be the effects of large-scale.
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