Weekend #Plankton #Factoid 🦐🦠

Not all #autotrophs fix carbon through #photosynthesis. Some #bacteria (lithoautotrophs) use the minerals leached from rock for energy. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans metabolizes pyrite with oxygen to produce sulfites and sulfuric acid. This causes Acid Mine Drainage #AMD in #streams that drain old coal mines. This *very acidic discharge is oxidized as it contacts air, turning iron bright orange (rust), and contains many #toxic metals.
https://uwaterloo.ca/wat-on-earth/news/acid-mine-drainage-past-presentfuture

And another very interesting #network poster! This one shows that higher horizontal #diversity of #autotrophs does not necessarily lead to higher #FunctionalDiversity!

Thanks @lawojcik, it was nice to chat with you!

@networkscience
#InteractionNetworks
#TheoreticalEcology
#EcologicalModeling
#EcologyMetz2022
#sfe2gfoe2022