How Trichodesmium are essential cogs in the ecological machinery of the ocean

The marine bacteria Trichodesmium come in a variety of species. A slick of Trichodesmium floats on the ocean surface in the western South Pacific in January 2007. Trichodesmium are essential cogs in the ecological machinery that cycles chemicals through the oceans–chemicals that sustain life and influence global climate (shown here). (Illustration by Jack Cook, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)