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Written by Boldone
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Wednesday, 12 September 2007 |
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Just as photosynthesizers form the base of food webs in sunlit communities, so do sulfide oxidizing bacteria in sulphureta (Dyer 2003 - see preceding post). One such places is the mudflat belt around the Isonzo river outlets, in the northernmost Adriatic (Italy). Phanerogam meadows provide here large quantities of food to fermenting bacteria of various types (including gram-positives and proteobacteria).
When plants undergo decomposition, sulfide is produced, since plants are rich in sulfur. Below the surface, where the lack of oxygen prevents the transformation of sulphide into sulphate, a sulphuretum is produced, enabling life and strategies to thiobiotic animals [more to come]
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