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Plankton are an essential component of life on Earth. Marine plankton, found in all ocean ecosystems, play a critical role in maintaining the health and balance of the ocean and its complex food webs. The oxygen, nutrients, and biomass they produce also sustain terrestrial life—from the food we eat to the air we breathe.
Plankton—derived from the Greek root planktos, meaning “wanderer” or “drifter”—are unable to swim against currents, tides, or waves. The word refers to the numerous organisms floating throughout aquatic ecosystems.
Phytoplankton are the tiny, plant-like producers of the plankton community. They include bacteria and algae that form the base of aquatic food webs. Common phytoplankton include diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and green algae. Through photosynthesis, phytoplankton use sunlight, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and water to produce oxygen and nutrients for other organisms. With 71% of the Earth covered by the ocean, phytoplankton are responsible for producing up to 50% of the oxygen we breathe. These microscopic organisms also cycle most of the Earth’s carbon dioxide between the ocean and atmosphere.
Zooplankton are the animal-like primary consumers of plankton communities. In turn, zooplankton then become food for larger, secondary consumers such as fish. Zooplankton include microscopic and macroscopic organisms. Some zooplankto—such as copepods, krill, and arrow worms—will drift the ocean as plankton for their entire lives. Other zooplankton live only a portion of their lives as ocean drifters. These include oysters, crabs, and some fish.
Plankton also play a role at the end of the food web—as decomposers and detritivores. These plankton, including bacteria, fungi, and worms, break down and consume dead plant and animal material that falls through the water column as "marine snow." Marine snow often includes fecal matter, sand, soot, skin, and other organic and inorganic particles descending to the seafloor.
Through plankton sampling, scientists like Richard Lampitt can monitor this important component of life on Earth.
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What are some different ways to classify plankton?
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Answer
Plankton can be classified in numerous ways, including
- size
- shape
- distribution
- producers or consumers
- phytoplankton or zooplankton
- whether the organisms are temporary or permanent plantonic creatures
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Answer
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Why do Dr. Lampitt and his team find more phytoplankton at the top of the water column (near the ocean surface)?
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Answer
Phytoplankton rely on sunlight (as well as temperature and nutrients) for photosynthesis. Sunlight only permeates the upper layers of the ocean, called the epipelagic or euphotic zone. Below this zone, few phytoplankton have the necessary sunlight for photosynthesis.
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Answer
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How are people dependent on ocean plankton for their survival and health?
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Answer
1) Ocean phytoplankton provide up to 50% of the oxygen we breathe.
2) Ocean plankton are the base of the ocean food web. These food webs provide food and financial resources to billions of people around the world.
3) Phytoplankton uptake carbon dioxide. This makes them an important part in the regulation of climate change.
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Answer
- Foraminifera (forams) and radiolarians are microscopic zooplankton. The tests, or shells, of these plankton are so abundant that they form the majority of seafloor sediment in many parts of the ocean. The chemicals found in foram tests are also be used by oceanographers to study what the Earth’s climate was like in the past.
- Plankton provide the most ancient evidence of life on Earth. Stromatolites are thin layers of fossilized cyanobacteria (a type of plankton) that date from between 2.8 billion to 3.5 billion years ago.
- Marine snow got its name because it looks like snowflakes sinking down to the bottom of the ocean. Some marine “snowflakes” can grow to be more than 5 centimeters (1.9 inches) in diameter and can take weeks to reach the seafloor.
algae
Plural Noun
(singular: alga) diverse group of aquatic organisms, the largest of which are seaweeds.
aquatic
Adjective
having to do with water.
arrow worm
Noun
predatory marine worms that drift in the deep sea as plankton.
Plural Noun
(singular: bacterium) single-celled organisms found in every ecosystem on Earth.
biomass
Noun
living organisms, and the energy contained within them.
copepod
Noun
microscopic marine organism (crustacean).
cyanobacteria
Noun
type of aquatic bacteria that can photosynthesize light to create energy. Also called blue-green algae (even though it is not algae) and (in freshwater habitats) pond scum.
decomposer
Noun
organism that breaks down dead organic material; also sometimes referred to as detritivores
detritivore
Noun
organism that consumes dead plant material.
diatom
Noun
type of algae, most of which are only one cell.
dinoflagellate
Noun
one-celled marine organism that is a major component of plankton.
fecal
Adjective
having to do with excrement.
fungi
Plural Noun
(singular: fungus) organisms that survive by decomposing and absorbing nutrients in organic material such as soil or dead organisms.
inorganic
Adjective
composed of material that is not living, and never was, such as rock.
krill
Noun
small marine crustacean, similar to shrimp.
marine
Adjective
having to do with the ocean.
marine snow
Noun
continuous fall of organic and inorganic particles (including the remains of marine organisms, fecal matter, shells, and sand) from the upper layers of the water column to the seafloor.
microscopic
Adjective
very small.
organic
Adjective
composed of living or once-living material.
Noun
process by which plants turn water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide into water, oxygen, and simple sugars.
phytoplankton
Noun
microscopic organism that lives in the ocean and can convert light energy to chemical energy through photosynthesis.
primary consumer
Noun
organism that eats producers; herbivores.
producer
Noun
organism on the food chain that can produce its own energy and nutrients. Also called an autotroph.
sampling
Noun
a small part of a group observed and tested to represent the whole group.
secondary consumer
Noun
organism that eats meat.
soot
Noun
sticky black particles produced as some fuels, such as coal and wood, are burned. Also called black carbon.
terrestrial
Adjective
having to do with the Earth or dry land.
Noun
rise and fall of the ocean's waters, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
water column
Noun
area reaching from the sediment of a body of water to its surface.
wave
Noun
moving swell on the surface of water.
zooplankton
Plural Noun
microscopic, heterotrophic organism that lives in the ocean.
Instructional Content
Video
- National Geographic Channel: Plankton Light Show
- National Geographic Channel: Light the Ocean—Plankton Krill Power
Websites
