Abstract
We review the application of molecular methods to estimate biodiversity in the marine environment. All of the methods reviewed here, which are at the forefront of molecular research, can be applied to all organisms in all habitats, but the case studies used to illustrate the points are derived from marine photosynthetic eukaryotic protists. It has been accepted that we know less than 10% of the identified diversity in the marine microbial world and the marine micro- and pico-eukaryotes are no exception. Even the species that we think we can easily recognize are often poorly described, and even less is known of their life histories and spatial and temporal trends in their abundance and distribution. With new molecular and analytical techniques, we can advance our knowledge of marine biodiversity at the species level to understand how marine biodiversity supports ecosystem structure, dynamics and resilience. Biogeochemical reactions performed by marine photosynthetic microbial organisms constitute a major sustaining component of ecosystem functioning, and therefore, affect climate changes. New interpretations of how environmental, ecological and evolutionary processes control and structure marine ecosystem biodiversity can be made so that we can augment our understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics in especially the pico- and nano-fractions of the plankton as well as in the deep sea benthos, both of which are very difficult to study without good analytical methods.
Highlights
Understanding and preserving biodiversity has been one of the most important global challenges for the past 20 years, and will continue to be an important scientific issue during the decades
Clone libraries made from ribosomal RNA instead of DNA can be different in terms of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) present and their abundances because different organismal groups have markedly different numbers of nuclear SSU rDNA copies, whereas the number of ribosomes in a cell is related to its activity [27]
Molecular techniques can enhance our understanding of phytoplankton biodiversity in an environment as vast as the world's oceans and in organisms so tiny that they can only be reliably counted using flow cytometry
Summary
Understanding and preserving biodiversity has been one of the most important global challenges for the past 20 years, and will continue to be an important scientific issue during the decades. There is a science plan for Europe to address the problems associated with a potential loss of biodiversity in the marine environment, which was formulated in 1999 by the Association of Marine Science Institutes (AMSI). A synopsis of the executive summary formulated for European research on marine biodiversity reflecting the joint opinions of scientists from AMSI is presented in the following paragraph. Because biodiversity is strongly modified by these changes, there is widespread realization that scientists must generate plans to conserve and protect biodiversity in many parts of the world that were heretofore subject to rampant scavenging for natural resources. How biodiversity is perceived and preserved will affect future biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the continued use of the goods and services that ecosystems provide to humans
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