Researchers track effects of changing ocean temperature on phytoplankton

Changes in ocean temperature affect a key species of phytoplankton, according to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Their study, published in this week’s issue of the journal Science, tracked levels of Synechococcus — a tiny bacterium common in marine ecosystems — near the coast of Massachusetts over a 13-year period.

“Synechococcus and other phytoplankton are sentinels,” …