Some of the examples are diatoms, cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, coccolithophores. Zooplankton is a group of floating organisms, heterotrophic in nature, found in both fresh water and marine habitats.
Zooplanktons get their energy by feeding on phytoplankton, other bacteria, plant parts, and other zooplanktons. Zooplanktons are often found in deeper parts or in the middle parts of the oceans as they do not require sunlight and tend to travel to the surface for feeding and also in order to escape their predators. They are found all over the world in oceans and in freshwater bodies such as lakes, ponds, etc. Zooplanktons are a crucial part of the food chain and act as primary or secondary consumers.
They include many species ranging from small protozoans to a variety of metazoans. Some of the typical examples of zooplanktons are meroplankton, crustaceans such as krill, mollusks, chordates, radiolarians, jellyfish, protozoans, and foraminiferans.
They are found in regions with the appropriate temperature, salinity, and water currents. Phytoplankton and zooplankton are plant and animal species found in the marine environment. While phytoplanktons are autotrophic and prepare their own food, zooplanktons are heterotrophic and are dependent on phytoplankton and other zooplanktons for their food.
Phytoplankton and zooplankton are important to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. Phytoplankton is also one of the major producers of oxygen and is important to maintain oxygen levels in the marine environment. They also serve as natural indicators for algal bloom and increased toxicity.
Both can be found in oceans all over the world and in some freshwater bodies. They produce their food by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Zooplankton is just the opposite in this regard. They prefer the darker and cooler areas of the ocean. These are areas which are not frequented by sunlight. They travel to the surface of the water during daytime.
Ecological importance Both zooplankton and phytoplankton are indicators of ocean health. What do we mean? You see, these wonderful creatures are very susceptible to changes in the marine environment. Any change in the acid content or even the temperature of the water , caused by pollution or acid runoffs, has a devastating impact on planktons. Therefore, any change in the pattern of phytoplankton in the waters can indicate danger to the marine environment.
The most common phytoplankton indicator of trouble is a red tide. This is a situation where harmful algae build up in the waters. It can release enough toxicity to kill off a host of marine life like small fishes. Release of oxygen Phytoplankton releases a lot of oxygen into the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. However, this is not true in case of zooplankton. Author Recent Posts.
Purpa Mukherjee. Latest posts by Purpa Mukherjee see all. Help us improve. Rate this post! Cancel Reply. The more that scientists like Corradino understand how to protect these critical marine species, the more likely it is that their research will help creatures further up the food chain survive threats such as climate change.
The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.
Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society. National Geographic Society. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format.
When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer.
If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.
Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. Marine ecosystems contain a diverse array of living organisms and abiotic processes. From massive marine mammals like whales to the tiny krill that form the bottom of the food chain, all life in the ocean is interconnected.
While the ocean seems vast and unending, it is, in fact, finite; as the climate continues to change, we are learning more about those limits. Explore these resources to teach students about marine organisms, their relationship with one another, and with their environment.
Students explore major marine ecosystems by locating them on maps. Students use marine examples to learn about energy transfer through food chains and food webs. They discuss how food webs can illustrate the health and resilience of an ecosystem.
The marine ecosystem is made up of a complicated series interconnected energy producers—like plants and photoplankton—and consumers—from plant-eaters to meat-eaters, both great and small.
0コメント