Abstract

Phytoplankton How efficient are phytoplankton at converting sunlight into the products of photosynthesis? The two other pathways that that absorbed energy can take are emission back to the environment by fluorescence or conversion to heat. Lin et al. measured phytoplankton fluorescence lifetimes in the laboratory and combined them with satellite measurements of variable chlorophyll fluorescence. Combined, they determined the quantum yields of photochemistry and fluorescence in four ocean basins. Approximately 60% of absorbed solar energy is converted to heat, a figure 50% higher than has been determined for conditions of optimal growth. Science , this issue p. [264][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aab2213

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