Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cermeno P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4394288 | biostudies-other | 2015 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Cermeño Pedro P Falkowski Paul G PG Romero Oscar E OE Schaller Morgan F MF Vallina Sergio M SM
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20150323 14
Marine diatoms are silica-precipitating microalgae that account for over half of organic carbon burial in marine sediments and thus they play a key role in the global carbon cycle. Their evolutionary expansion during the Cenozoic era (66 Ma to present) has been associated with a superior competitive ability for silicic acid relative to other siliceous plankton such as radiolarians, which evolved by reducing the weight of their silica test. Here we use a mathematical model in which diatoms and ra ...[more]