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Category Archives: MEBL@UCA
Sara in Denmark
September 2017
Sara Haro has stayed for 3 months in the Marine Biology Laboratory in Helsingør (University of Copenhagen), within the research group Microenviromental Ecology lead by Prof. Michael Kuhl. Sara has received training in both microsensor (oxygen and temperature) and microprobes (irradiance scalar and reflectance) measurements. She has carried out experiments to determine the importance of radiative energy budgets in microbial mats under different levels of irradiance and tidal conditions. Results are expected soon!
Oxygen measurements with a microsensor on a microbial mat.
Three new PhD’s
July was a busy month. Three PhD students from our lab defended their theses. Julio, Eddy and JuanLu defended their theses working on different subjects of aquatic biogeochemistry. We wish them all the best for their future endeavours.
The three new doctors of our lab (from left: Julio, JuanLu and Eddy)
EPS and diatoms
The last research paper on bacteria degrading extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by microalgae, published recently in Frontiers in Microbiology by our group in collaboration with researchers from the University of Essex, has attracted the attention of the media. In a small report, our PhD student Julio Bohórquez explains (in spanish) what the more relevant findings of this study are.
Oceanographic cruise in the Pacific
This month, Dr. Emilio Garcia participated in an oceanographic cruise in the East Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone on board of the research vessel Oceanus. During 3 weeks, 13 researchers from different countries (USA, Denmark, Island, Austria, Mexico and Spain) and institutions worked together to investigate the microbial community and the biogeochemical processes of the vast anoxic waters of the north Pacific. Different aspects of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry were studied, going from aerobic respiration at the oxygenated photic layer to the different processes involved in the complex nitrogen cycling (denitrification, anammox, nitrification, anaerobic methane oxidation…) going on inside the so called “dead zones”.
Emilio (fourth from the left) with members from the cruise
Annual sampling is completed
In May, our research group finished a quarterly sampling in two transects conducted over one year. Aim of the study is to estimate the contribution of microphytobenthic production to the total primary production in the inner Cadiz Bay. Each transect has five sampling points, distributed along the intertidal zone. Sediment cores were collected by sediment sampler and were maintained in aquaria with sea water under constant irradiance. Microphytobenthic primary production was measured using oxygen microsensor. In addition, numerous samples (chlorophyll, molecular biology, bacterial abundance, extracellular polymeric substances,microbial community composition etc) were preserved for future analysis.
Sediment core with seagrass
At the V International Symposium of Marine Sciences
From 20th to 22th last July, our PhD student Sara Soria attended the V International Symposium of Marine Sciences at University of Alicante (Spain). She presented a poster titled “Microbial communities are coupled only in the dry season in a tropical estuary, Costa Rica“. The study focused on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton and bacteria along the tropical estuary of the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, one of the most productive estuaries of the world and an important fisheries area for Costa Rica.
Strong gradients of salinity and nutrients exist along the estuary whose intensity depends on season (rainy/dry). These interactions determine the fate of microbially transformed organic carbon and thus affect the productivity of the system. Furthermore, these complex interactions vary depending on biological and environmental factors. This information is crucial to manage effectively tropical estuaries, some of the most productive systems worldwide, which are under increased human pressure.
