Post-Doc, Marine Ecology Group
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Emilio Marañón
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About
My research interests are focused on the study of the impact of environmental factors on the structure and metabolism of marine phytoplankton communities. In this sense, the main objective of the research developed during my PhD was to study the nature and variability of the relationship between cell size, abundance, biomass and metabolic rate in natural phytoplankton communities of marine ecosystems. This goal was achieved by following an ecological approach that focused on combining a time-series analysis of a large data-set of phytoplankton abundance and cell size from a coastal environment and the development of size-fractionated phytoplankton photosynthesis measurements and phytoplankton abundance and cell size determinations throughout an oceanographic cruise conducted along the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean.
Currently, I am interested in studying of the effect of climate driven environmental changes, mainly nutrient limitation and ocean acidification, on the biochemistry of phytoplankton metabolic pathways, with especial focus on those groups such as diatoms, nitrogen fixers or coccolithophores that play a key role in global biogeochemical cycles. My aim is also to study how these biochemical responses are translated into changes in phytoplankton physiology and ecology by carrying out phytoplankton culture and field experiments. By conducting this research, my ultimate goal is to assess the effect of nutrient limitation and ocean acidification on phytoplankton metabolism and community composition at the molecular, physiological and ecological levels in order to increase current understanding of the response of marine ecosystems under different future climate scenarios.
Contact Information
| Address: | Laboratorio de Ecología Marina |
