Marine Nitrogen Fixation and Phytoplankton Ecology

Abstract

Many oceans are currently undergoing rapid changes in environmental conditions such as warming temperature, acidic water condition, coastal hypoxia, etc. Obvious warming and acidification in various oceans, from polar oceans to tropical oceans, was well reported in the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These climate-driven environmental changes could lead to dramatic alterations in the biology and ecology of phytoplankton as major primary producers and biogeochemical drivers and subsequently impact the growth and survival of other marine organisms. Consequently, the entire marine ecosystem and global biogeochemical cycles would be very different from what we have now This Special Issue covers various articles on N2 fixation and aspects of marine phy toplankton ecology, such as biodiversity, distribution, biomass, photosynthetic traits, bio chemical compositions, productivity, etc., in various oceans, including polar oceans. Finally, we hope that this Special Issue provides ecological and biogeochemical baselines that broaden our existing knowledge on the current and ongoing changes in marine ecosystems in response to global climate change.