11 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables ; In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the impact of turbulence on aquatic organisms. In response to this interest, a novel instrument has been constructed, TURBOGEN, that generates turbulence in water volumes up to 13 l. TURBOGEN is fully computer controlled, thus, allowing for a high level of reproducibility and for variations of the intensity and characteristics of turbulence during the experiment. The calibration tests, carried out by particle image velocimetry, showed TURBOGEN to be successful in generating isotropic turbulence at the typical relatively low levels of the marine environment. TURBOGEN and its sizing have been devised with the long-term scope of analyzing in detail the molecular responses of plankton to different mixing regimes, which is of great importance in both environmental and biotechnological processes ; Rachel Macmasters is acknowledged for language check. A.A., M.I.F., D.I., M.R.d'A., and R.W. thank the Flagship project RITMARE—The Italian Research for the Sea Programme (Ricerca ITaliana per il MARE) for partial support. A.A. was funded by the European Union under FP7-People—GA No. 600407 ; Peer Reviewed
In the last decade, several initiatives have been taken at a European level to adopt the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by promoting coordination and stimulating integrated actions leading to consistent views on its final goal: the achievement of good environmental status (GES). In its holistic approach, the MSFD fully acknowledges the complexity and variability of marine ecosystems and demands constant scientific support for its actual implementation. Recently, the Joint Programming Initiative on "Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans" (JPI Oceans) launched the joint action "Science for Good Environmental Status" (Science4GES), building on the contribution of different scientific disciplines and communities to better fulfill the scope of the MSFD. In this paper we illustrate and discuss a few crucial aspects of endeavors to implement the MSFD specifically implied in the definition of the metrics for the 11 descriptors and GES in its complexity, as well as improving the strategy governing its implementation. This presentation also describes the challenges, aims and implementation plan for the JPI-O joint action, where a transdisciplinary approach may help in progressing from the comprehensive and far-reaching vision of the MSFD to the achievement of a durable GES ; peer-reviewed
29 pages, 9 figures, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GB006022 ; Predicting responses of plankton to variations in essential nutrients is hampered by limited in situ measurements, a poor understanding of community composition, and the lack of reference gene catalogs for key taxa. Iron is a key driver of plankton dynamics and, therefore, of global biogeochemical cycles and climate. To assess the impact of iron availability on plankton communities, we explored the comprehensive bio‐oceanographic and bio‐omics data sets from Tara Oceans in the context of the iron products from two state‐of‐the‐art global scale biogeochemical models. We obtained novel information about adaptation and acclimation toward iron in a range of phytoplankton, including picocyanobacteria and diatoms, and identified whole subcommunities covarying with iron. Many of the observed global patterns were recapitulated in the Marquesas archipelago, where frequent plankton blooms are believed to be caused by natural iron fertilization, although they are not captured in large‐scale biogeochemical models. This work provides a proof of concept that integrative analyses, spanning from genes to ecosystems and viruses to zooplankton, can disentangle the complexity of plankton communities and can lead to more accurate formulations of resource bioavailability in biogeochemical models, thus improving our understanding of plankton resilience in a changing environment ; We thank the commitment of the following people and sponsors who made this singular expedition possible: CNRS (in particular Groupement de Recherche GDR3280, the Mission Pour l'Interdisciplinarité – Project MEGALODOM, and the Fédération de Recherche GO‐SEE FR2022), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genoscope/CEA, the French Government "Investissements d'Avenir" programs Oceanomics (ANR‐11‐BTBR‐0008), MEMO LIFE (ANR‐10‐LABX‐54), PSL* Research University (ANR‐11‐IDEX‐0001‐02), and FRANCE GENOMIQUE (ANR‐10‐INBS‐09), Fund for Scientific Research – Flanders, VIB, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, UNIMIB, ANR (projects "PHYTBACK/ANR‐2010‐1709‐01," POSEIDON/ANR‐09‐BLAN‐0348, PROMETHEUS/ANR‐09‐PCS‐GENM‐217, TARA‐GIRUS/ANR‐09‐PCS‐GENM‐218, SAMOSA/ANR‐13‐ADAP‐0010, CINNAMON/ANR‐17‐CE02‐0014‐01), EU FP7 (MicroB3/No. 287589), ERC Advanced Grant Award (Diatomite: 294823), the LouisD foundation of the Institut de France, a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship from Harvard University to C. B., JSPS/MEXT KAKENHI (26430184, 16H06437, and 16KT0020), The Canon Foundation (203143100025), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (award #3790) and the US National Science Foundation (awards OCE#1536989 and OCE#1829831) to MBS, agnès b., the Veolia Environment Foundation, Region Bretagne, World Courier, Illumina, Cap L'Orient, the EDF Foundation EDF Diversiterre, FRB, the Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation, Etienne Bourgois, the Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial, the TARA schooner and its captain and crew. ; Peer Reviewed