Allanah Paul

The aim of this project is to investigate the potential of nitrogen fixing (diazotrophic) organisms to stimulate biological carbon sequestration in the ocean in future projected ocean acidification. Thus, this study would be an important contribution to any or all of the topics of ‘ocean sinks’ (investigating amplification of a potential biological carbon sink), ‘evolving ocean’ (gaining insight into the ocean in future) and ‘ocean interfaces’ (relevance to organic matter dynamics and cycling). Mesocosm experiments would provide a strong, multifaceted platform to investigate the following key research questions: - What is the fate and distribution of newly fixed nitrogen in algal communities? Is this distribution affected by pCO2? Is the rate of uptake and cycling of N affected by pCO2? - How are changes in cyanobacteria metabolism influencing the carbon uptake of the wider plankton community, hence the ability of the ocean to sequester carbon?