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It has been estimated that half of the world's oxygen is produced by phytoplankton. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Larger autotrophs, such as the seagrasses and macroalgae ( seaweeds ) are generally confined to the littoral zone and adjacent shallow waters, where they can attach to the underlying substrate but still be within the photic zone .
Phytoplankton obtain their energy through photosynthesis, as trees and other plants do on land. This means phytoplankton must have light from the sun, so they live in the well-lit surface layers (euphotic zone) of oceans and lakes. In comparison with terrestrial plants, phytoplankton are distributed over a larger surface area, are exposed to ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 February 2025. Organisms living in water or air that are drifters on the current or wind This article is about the marine organisms. For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation). Marine microplankton and mesoplankton Part of the contents of one dip of a hand net. The image contains diverse planktonic ...
Microalgae, capable of performing photosynthesis, are important for life on earth; they produce approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen [2] and use the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to grow photoautotrophically. "Marine photosynthesis is dominated by microalgae, which together with cyanobacteria, are collectively called phytoplankton."
Sea water carries oxygen and nutrients to oceanic organisms, which allow them to be planktonic or settled. The dissolved minerals and oxygen flow with currents/circulations. Oceanic plants and animals easily capture what they need for their daily life, which make them 'lazy' and 'slow'. Sea water removes waste from animals and plants.
Some shade-loving plants (sciophytes) produce such low levels of oxygen during photosynthesis that they use all of it themselves instead of releasing it to the atmosphere. [ 12 ] Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms.
Ancestors of Prochlorococcus contributed to the production of early atmospheric oxygen. [26] Despite Prochlorococcus being one of the smallest types of marine phytoplankton in the world's oceans, its substantial number make it responsible for a major part of the oceans', world's photosynthesis, and oxygen production. [ 2 ]
Marine phytoplankton mostly inhabit sunlit surface waters as photoautotrophs, and require nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as sunlight to fix carbon and produce oxygen. However, some marine phytoplankton inhabit the deep sea, often near deep sea vents, as chemoautotrophs which use inorganic electron sources such as hydrogen ...