The essential role of phytoplankton in ecosystems
Learn about phytoplankton's role as the oxygen-producing foundation of many marine food chains.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Apes have unique personalities and preferences—just like humans.Media Editor: Lee Goldstein
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.This rock would take out more than just a T. rex.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) recorded at sea.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Copepods are tiny oceanic crustaceans with prodigious appetites.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Wirestock/Dreamstime.comThe tidal flats of the Wadden Sea have a rich supply of phytoplankton, which helps attract numerous seabirds.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about phytoplankton, which include diatoms such as Navicula and Ditylum.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about phytoplankton, plantlike types of microscopic algae that live suspended in bodies of water such as oceans. The term phytoplankton comes from the Greek words phyton (“plant”) and planktos (“wandering”). Examples of planktonic algae include diatoms and dinoflagellates.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Phytoplankton, the plantlike community of plankton, is comprised of single-celled algae and bacteria such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithophores. These organisms perform an essential role in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Like plants, they produce oxygen through photosynthesis, providing aquatic animals, as well as those found on land, with the oxygen necessary for respiration. Phytoplankton also make up the first step in the marine food chain and thus serve as food sources for smaller sea organisms, which in turn sustain larger ones. Human beings also rely on phytoplankton to supply the oxygen we breathe and to feed the fish we catch and eat.