ACEAS has established a monthly seminar series. The seminars will be held once a month and announced on this page.
The ACEAS Seminar Series organising committee is Sandeep Mohapatra (UTAS), William Scott (ANU) and Fabio Dias (UNSW). If you are interested in presenting, or would like to nominate a speaker, please email us: ACEAS.Project.Office@utas.edu.au
September Seminar Series: Dr Pauline Latour, AAPP Research Associate
Title: Coastal Antarctic phytoplankton responses to changing Fe and Mn conditions
Speaker: Dr Pauline Latour
When: Monday 22 September, 1:00pm- 2:00pm.
Format: Online (https://utas.zoom.us/j/88064514094?from=addon and in person at IMAS Aurora Lecture Theatre for those at UTAS.
Abstract: Phytoplankton play crucial roles in the ocean, through their position at the base of most food webs and their influence on the carbon cycle. In the Southern Ocean, phytoplankton growth is often limited by low concentrations of the trace metal iron (Fe) and light, which in turns impact the strength of the biological carbon pump. Other metals have also been observed to limit phytoplankton growth in some regions, such as manganese (Mn). We studied the effect of changing Fe and Mn conditions on natural Antarctic phytoplankton communities, first in the summer during the MISO 2024 voyage onboard RV Investigator and then in autumn during the 2025 Denman Marine Voyage (DMV) onboard RSV Nuyina. While higher trace metal conditions are expected near the Antarctic coast, preliminary results suggest that phytoplankton communities were Fe-limited during both seasons. While Mn additions had generally little influence, we report the first results suggesting a detrimental effect of its addition during one of the summer bioassays. In parallel, laboratory experiments looking at Mn requirements of four Southern Ocean diatoms suggested highly variable Mn requirements, with potential competitive uptake with Fe.
Bio: I recently started a position as a Sea Ice Quantitative Biogeochemist at AAPP. Prior this, I was working within ACEAS, investigating the parameters controlling phytoplankton growth along the East Antarctic coast. I have a Biology Degree, and completed a Master in marine chemistry at the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM) in Brest (France), where I developed a keen interest in how tiny organisms like phytoplankton can impact global biogeochemical cycles. My PhD research focused on manganese biogeochemistry in the Southern Ocean. This project combined analytical chemistry and field experiments to investigate manganese distribution and how it controls phytoplankton growth in this region. I also performed lab-based experiments to study the effect of manganese limitation on phytoplankton physiology for different types of Southern Ocean diatoms.
