Comments on: Diatoms Large and Small https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/ Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:30:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: jj https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531354 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:30:35 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531354 One small quibble I have, and it’s totally semantics, but I don’t like using the word “strategy” in evolutionary terms, sounds like one of those words the creotards will inevitably turn around and say it shows some sort of pre-determined intent in evolution, and leads to that same old argument about some sort of designed path.
Just my ¢2 – But again, great post

]]> By: jj https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531353 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:23:19 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531353 Nice Post Greg!
I’ve done some research myself as during my Marine Biology undergrad education centered mostly around Oceanic Eutrophication, and on the Nitrogen/Phosphorus as limiting agents topic. One thing we found was that Nitrogen tends to be a limiting resource in marine environments, and Phosphorus in freshwater (as you mentioned above). Most of what we found came from watching alga levels rise and fall as Nitrogen and Phosphorus levels rose and fell – Phosphorus seemed to have little effect in the marine environment (that is excess run-off, not overall concentration in water). And the opposite was true for freshwater.

]]> By: Glendon Mellow https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531352 Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:59:12 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531352 Thanks for the post, Greg.

I love painting and drawing diatoms. It’s been a while, but I have a nice piece planned for this year. The ESS is an interesting thought. Provocative.

Hmm.

]]> By: Lou FCD https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531351 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:57:31 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531351 Thanks for posting this, Greg. Interesting and timely in relation to my 112 class. (Just be careful when you’re looking at the little suckers under a microscope. You never know what’s in a slide full of pond water…)

]]> By: Lorax https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531350 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:29:13 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531350 While sinking theoretically sequesters carbon, we have to remember that many other organisms feed on the falling (marine snow) plankton. So in fact very little of the carbon in diatoms actually gets sequestered, the damn shrimp/fish/etc feeding on it just respire it back out. Maybe if we kill off most of the macroorganisms in the ocean, we can more readily sequester carbon…..Hmmm, off to write a grant to Starkistâ?¢

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531349 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:26:24 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531349 Stephanie, sorry, the comment you are responding to was spam, so it went away.

]]> By: Stephanie Z https://gregladen.com/blog/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531348 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:15:20 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/02/19/diatoms-are-algae-with-hard/#comment-531348 Thanks, Anonymous. I’d been wondering where the mosquitos had been coming from.

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