Marine Ecology

Marine Biological Production Processes 

Ocean Biogeochemistry 

1. Effects of aluminum on carbon fixation of marine phytoplankton, ocean carbon cycle, and climate change

2. Effects of short-term salinity decrease on the microbial food web in the upper ocean 

3. Ecosystem structure and functioning described by biomass (particle) size spectrum

Aluminum (Al) could favor the growth of phytoplankton by facilitating the utilization of dissolved organic phosphorus, iron (Fe), and dinitrogen, and in this manner enhance carbon fixation in the upper ocean. Also, Al may preserve biogenic matter from decay and decomposition, which would facilitate the export of the fixed carbon to ocean depths and its sequestration there. In addition, the Antarctic ice core records show that atmospheric CO₂ was low when the input of dust Al and Fe was abundant over the past 800,000 years. Therefore, we have proposed the Iron-Aluminum Hypothesis based on the Iron Hypothesis, to highlight the importance of Al in marine carbon sinks and climate change. 

Schematic description of the iron-aluminum hypothesis (modified from Zhou et al, 2022). Natural Fe fertilization processes like (but not limited to) dust deposition provide the ocean not only with Fe but also Al. On the one hand, Al increases carbon fixation by enhancing the utilization efficiency of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP), iron (Fe), and dinitrogen (N₂) by marine phytoplankton. On the other hand, Al can increase carbon export and sequestration by decreasing the decomposition of biogenic carbon. By doing these, Al increases marine carbon sink and plays an important role in historical (glacial-interglacial) and current climate changes.

Learning from Nature, we propose Ocean Al fertilization could be a potential CDR strategy used alone or together with other CDRs such as ocean Fe fertilization, artificial upwelling, and alkalinity enhancement , to alleviate global warming.

BS, 2003.09-2007.06, Marine Fishery Science & Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, China

PhD, 2007.09-2012.06, Marine Biology (Marine Ecology), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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2012.07-2015.12, Assistant Researcher, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2012.11-2013.05, Visiting Scholar, Hongkong University of Science & Technology, Hongkong

2014.10-2014.12, Visiting Scholar, Xiamen University, China

2016.06-2017.06, Visiting Scholar, Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Centre Eau Terre Environnement,  Canada

2021.08-2022.08, Visiting Scholar, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

2015.12-present, Associate Researcher, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Published papers

2024

54. Huang Liangmin, Lin Qiang, Tan Yehui, Huang Xiaoping, Zhou Linbin, Huang Hui (2024) Thoughts on the restoration, reconstruction and protection of typical tropical marine ecosystems. (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography,  43(06): 1-12.

53. Zhou L, Yang X, Li K, Xiang C, Wu Y, Huang X, Huang L, Tan Y (2024) Regime shift in a coastal pelagic ecosystem with increasing human-induced nutrient inputs over decades. Water Research 263: 122147

52. Zhou L, Liu F, Achterberg EP, Engel A, Campbell PGC, Fortin C, Huang L, Tan Y (2024) Promoting effects of aluminum addition on chlorophyll biosynthesis and growth of two cultured iron-limited marine diatoms. Limnology and Oceanography:  69(5): 1157-1171

51. Lai Y, Tan Y, Ke Z, Zhou L, Liu J, Zhang H, Wang J, Li K, Lian X (2024) Size-dependent zoogeographical distribution of gelatinous thaliaceans associated with current velocity and temperature. Science of The Total Environment 920: 170943

50. Liu J, Ding X, Xia X, Zhou L, Liu W, Lai Y, Ke Z, Tan Y (2024) Dissolved organic phosphorus promotes Cyclotella growth and adaptability in eutrophic tropical estuaries. Appl Environ Microbiol 90(1): e0163723

49. Zhang Z, Zhou L, Chen X-G, Achterberg EP, Yu Y, Hathorne E, Steiner Z, Siebert C, Frank M (2024) Introduction of isotopically light barium from the Rainbow hydrothermal system into the deep Atlantic Ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 625: 118476

2023

48. Zhou L, Liu F, Tan Y, Fortin C, Huang L, Campbell PGC (2023) Aluminum-induced changes in the net carbon fixation and carbon decomposition of a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium erythraeum. Biogeochemistry, 165: 277–290.

47. Liu J, Zhang H, Ding X, Zhou L, Ke Z, Li J, Tan Y (2023) Nitrogen fixation under the interaction of Kuroshio and upwelling in the northeastern South China Sea. Deep Sea Research Part I, 200: 104147.

46. Yuan Z, Achterberg EP, Engel A, Wen Z, Zhou L, Zhu X, Dai M, Browning TJ (2023) Phytoplankton community response to episodic wet and dry aerosol deposition in the subtropical North Atlantic. Limnology and Oceanography, 68: 2126-2140.

45. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, and L. Huang. 2023. Coral reef ecological pump for gathering and retaining nutrients and exporting carbon: a review and perspectives. Acta Oceanologica Sinica 42(6): 1–15.

44. Linbin Zhou, Liangmin Huang, Yehui Tan (2023), Iron-aluminum hypothesis and the potential of ocean aluminum fertilization as a carbon dioxide removal strategy (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 42(3): 1-18.

2022

43. Liu, Q., Zhou, L., Wu, Y., Huang, H., He, X., Gao, N., & Zhang, L. (2022). Quantification of the carbon released by a marine fish using a carbon release model and radiocarbon. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 181, 113908.

42. Liu, Q., Zhou, L., Zhang, W., Zhang, L., Tan, Y., Han, T., . . . Huang, H. (2022). Rising temperature contributed to the outbreak of a macrozooplankton Creseis acicula by enhancing its feeding and assimilation for algal food nearby the coastal Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 238, 113606.

2021

41. Zhang H, Zhou L, Li K, Ke Z, Tan Y (2021) Decreasing biological production and carbon export due to the barrier layer: A case study in the Bay of Bengal. Frontiers in Marine Science 8(1268): 710051

40. Zhou, L., F. Liu, Q. Liu, C. Fortin, Y. Tan, L. Huang, and P. G. C. Campbell (2021), Aluminum increases net carbon fixation by marine diatoms and decreases their decomposition: Evidence for the iron–aluminum hypothesis, Limnology and Oceanography, 66(7): 2712-2727

39. Xiang, C., Z. Ke, K. Li, J. Liu, L. Zhou, X. Lian, and Y. Tan (2021), Effects of terrestrial inputs and seawater intrusion on zooplankton community structure in Daya Bay, South China Sea, Marine pollution bulletin, 167, 112331.

38. Xiang, C., J. Liu, Z. Ke, L. Zhou, and Y. Tan (2021), Phytoplankton responses to Dan’ao River estuary water enrichment in terms of size structure and community composition (In Chinese with English Abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 40(2), 49-60.

2020

37. Liu, J., L. Zhou, Z. Ke, G. Li, and Y. Tan (2020), Phosphorus deficiency induced by aluminum in a marine nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Crocosphaera watsonii WH0003, Chemosphere, 246, 125641.

36. Liu, J., L. Zhou, J. Li, Y. Lin, Z. Ke, C. Zhao, H. Liu, X. Jiang, Y. He, and Y. Tan (2020), Effect of mesoscale eddies on diazotroph community structure and nitrogen fixation rates in the South China Sea, Reg. Stud. Mar. Sci., 35, 101106.

2019

35. He, Q., H. Zhan, J. Xu, S. Cai, W. Zhan, L. Zhou, and G. Zha (2019), Eddy-induced chlorophyll anomalies in the western South China Sea, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124:9487-9506

34. Li, J., Z. Chen, Z. Jing, L. Zhou, G. Li, Z. Ke, X. Jiang, J. Liu, H. Liu, and Y. Tan (2019), Synechococcus bloom in the Pearl River Estuary and adjacent coastal area–With special focus on flooding during wet seasons, Science of The Total Environment, 692, 769-783.

33. Liu, Q.#, L. Zhou#, F. Liu, C. Fortin, Y. Tan, L. Huang, and P. G. C. Campbell (2019), Uptake and subcellular distribution of aluminum in a marine diatom, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 169, 85-92.

32. Xu, S., J. Guo, Z. Chen, Y. Xu, L. Zhou, Z. Ke, and C. Li (2019), Biomass particle-size spectrum of fish in Daya Bay (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Fishery Sciences of China, 26(1), 34-43.

2018

31. Liu, J.#, L. Zhou#, G. Li, Z. Ke, R. Shi, and Y. Tan (2018), Beneficial effects of aluminum enrichment on nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in the South China Sea, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 129(1), 142–150.

30. Liu, Q., L. Zhou, Y. Wu, Y. Yang, and L. Zhang (2018), Assimilation and release of the ingested carbon of phytoplankton Chlorella sp. by the marine zooplanktonic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis (In Chinese with English abstract), Acta Ecologica Sinica, 38(18), 6768-6777.

29. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, C. Fortin, and P. G. C. Campbell (2018a), Aluminum effects on marine phytoplankton: implications for a revised Iron Hypothesis (Iron-Aluminum Hypothesis), Biogeochemistry, 139(2), 123-137.

28. Zhou, L., J. Liu, S. Xing, Y. Tan, and L. Huang (2018b), Phytoplankton responses to aluminum enrichment in the South China Sea, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 181, 117-131.

2017

27. Li, J., X. Jiang, G. Li, Z. Jing, L. Zhou, Z. Ke, and Y. Tan (2017a), Distribution of picoplankton in the northeastern South China Sea with special reference to the effects of the Kuroshio intrusion and the associated mesoscale eddies, Science of The Total Environment, 589, 1-10.

26. Li, J., X. Jiang, Z. Jing, G. Li, Z. Chena, L. Zhou, C. Zhao, J. Liu, and Y. Tan (2017b), Spatial and seasonal distributions of bacterioplankton in the Pearl River Estuary: The combined effects of riverine inputs, temperature, and phytoplankton, Marine Pollution Bulletin 125(1-2), 199-207.

25. Lian, X., Y. Tan, L. Huang, and L. Zhou (2017), Striking taxonomic differences in summer zooplankton in the northern South China Sea:implication of an extreme cold anomaly, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 36(10), 87-96.

24. Liu, J., L. Zhou, Z. Ke, G. Li, R. Shi, and Y. Tan (2017a), Effect of aluminum on the growth and nitrogen fixation of a marine nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium: Crocosphaera watsonii (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 36(2), 12-18.

23. Liu, J., L. Zhou, Y. Tan, Q. Wang, Z. Hu, J. Li, X. Jiang, and Z. Ke (2017b), Distribution of reactive aluminum under the influence of mesoscale eddies in the western South China Sea, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 36(6), 95-103.

2016

22. Liu, J., L. Zhou, G. Li, Y. Tan, H. Liu, C. Zhao, Z. Ke, J. Li, and X. Jiang (2016), Nitrogen fixation and its contribution of nitrogen to primary production in the surface waters of the northeastern South China Sea during October 2014 (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography.

21. Shi, R., Z. Li, L. Zhou, and Y. Tan (2016), Influence of dissolved aluminum on marine phytoplankton community structure and growth of Synechococcus sp. (In Chinese with English abstract), South China Fisheries Science, 12(1), 1-8.

20. Wang, J., Y. Tan, L. Huang, Z. Ke, and L. Zhou (2016), Wintertime picophytoplankton distribution and its driving factors along the 113 ^oE meridian in the southern South China Sea (In Chinese with English abstract), Acta Ecologia Sinica, 36(6).

19. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, and W.-X. Wang (2016), Enhanced utilization of organic phosphorus in a marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii: A possible mechanism for aluminum effect under P limitation, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 478, 77-85.

2015

18. Li, J., P. Shen, Y. Tan, X. Jiang, and L. Zhou (2015), Phytoplankton responses to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment in relation to different water masses (In Chinese with English abstract), Haiyang Xuebao, 37(10), 88-99.

17. Shi, R., G. Li, L. Zhou, and Y. Tan (2015), Increasing aluminum alters the growth, cellular chlorophyll a and oxidation stress of cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp., Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies, 44(3), 343-351.

16. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, and G. Li (2015a), Does microzooplankton grazing contribute to the pico-phytoplankton dominance in subtropical and tropical oligotrophic waters?, Acta Ecologia Sinica, 35(1), 29-38.

15. Zhou, L., L. Huang, Y. Tan, X. Lian, and K. Li (2015b), Size-based analysis of a zooplankton community under the influence of the Pearl River plume and coastal upwelling in the northeastern South China Sea, Marine Biology Research, 11(2), 168-179.

14. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, Z. Hu, and Z. Ke (2015c), Seasonal and size-dependent variations in the phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing in the southern South China Sea under the influence of the East Asian monsoon, Biogeosciences, 12(22), 6809-6822.

2014

13. Hu, Z., Y. Tan, X. Song, L. Zhou, X. Lian, L. Huang, and Y. He (2014), Influence of mesoscale eddies on primary production in the South China Sea during spring inter-monsoon period, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 33(3), 118-128.

12. Wang, Q., Y. Tan, L. Zhou, Z. Ke, and L. Huang (2014), Research on dissolved aluminum in the central and southern South China Sea: Can aluminum stimulate Pyrrophyta's growth? (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 33(2), 78-86.

2013

11. Lian, X., Y. Tan, Y. Liu, L. Huang, Q. Chen, and L. Zhou (2013a), Comparison of capture efficiency for zooplankton in the northern South China Sea, using two plankton mesh sizes (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 32(3), 33-39.

10. Lian, X., Y. Tan, Y. Liu, L. Huang, Q. Chen, and L. Zhou (2013b), Preliminary study of zooplankton community in the Luzon Strait (In Chinese with English abstract). , Journal of Biology, 30(1), 31-35.

9. Liu, H., Z. Hu, L. Huang, H. Huang, Z. Chen, X. Song, Z. Ke, and L. Zhou (2013), Biological response to typhoon in northern South China Sea: A case study of “Koppu”, Continental Shelf Research, 68, 123-132.

8. Ke, Z., L. Huang, Y. Tan, L. Zhou, and J. Zhang (2013), Spatial distribution of chlorophyll a and its relationships with environmental factors in northern South China Sea in late summer 2008 (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 32(4), 51-57.

7. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, and L. Huang (2013a), Negative phytoplankton growth rates in dilution experiments and the possible causes (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Tropical Oceanography, 32(1), 48-54.

6. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, X. Lian, D. Qiu, and Z. Ke (2013b), Size-based analysis for the state and heterogeneity of pelagic ecosystems in the northern South China Sea, Journal of Oceanography, 69(4), 379-393.

2012

5. Xing, S., Y. Tan, L. Zhou, X. Lian, and L. Huang (2012), Effects of water tubidity on the symbiotic zooxanthella of hermatypic corals (In Chinese with English abstract), Chinese Science Bulletin, 57(5), 348-354.

2011

4. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, J. Huang, H. Liu, and X. Lian (2011), Phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing in the continental shelf area of northeastern South China Sea after Typhoon Fengshen, Continental Shelf Research, 31, 1663-1671.

2010

3. Song, X., H. Liu, L. Huang, Y. Tan, Z. Ke, and L. Zhou (2010), Distribution characteristics of basic biological production and its influencing factors in the northern South China Sea in summer (In Chinese with English abstract), Acta Ecologia Sinica, 30(23), 6409-6417.

2. Zhou, L., Y. Tan, L. Huang, and X. Lian (2010), The advances in the aquatic particle/biomass size spectra study (In Chinese with English abstract), Acta Ecologia Sinica, 30(12), 3319-3333.

2009

1. Lu, H., L. Zhou, Y. Yan, and B. Feng (2009), Relation of Branchiostoma belcheri distribution to the sediments in waters near Naozhou Island (In Chinese with English abstract), Journal of Oceanography in Taiwan Strait, 28(2), 272-278.

I am in the field of marine ecology. My current research focuses on 3 areas about the marine biological production process: 1)Effects of aluminum on carbon fixation of marine phytoplankton, ocean carbon cycle, and climate change 2)Effects of short-term salinity decrease on the microbial food web in the upper ocean 3)Ecosystem structure and functioning described by biomass (particle) size spectrum

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现指导学生

欧阳雨歆  硕士研究生  086000-生物与医药  

张文奇  硕士研究生  086001-生物技术与工程