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Plankton have traditionally been categorized as producer, consumer, and recycler groups, but some plankton are able to benefit from more than just one trophic level. In this mixed trophic strategy—known as mixotrophy—organisms act as both producers and consumers, either at the same time or switching between modes of nutrition in response to ...
Phytoplankton (/ ˌ f aɪ t oʊ ˈ p l æ ŋ k t ə n /) are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems.The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν (phyton), meaning 'plant', and πλαγκτός (planktos), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
The word "neuston" comes from Greek neustos, meaning "swimming", and the noun suffix-on (as in "plankton"). [2] This term first appears in the biological literature in 1917. [ 3 ] The alternative term pleuston comes from the Greek plein , meaning "to sail or float".
A Korbnetz, one of several inventions by Hensen to collect plankton. Hensen went to school in Schleswig from 1845 to 1859 and then joined a grammar school in Glückstadt (Holstein) after which he joined to study medicine at the universities of Würzburg, Berlin (studying under Müller) and Kiel.
As plankton are rarely fished, it has been argued that mesoplankton abundance and species composition can be used to study marine ecosystems' response to climate change. This is because they have life cycles that generally last less than a year, meaning they respond to climate changes between years.
Plankton is the term applied to any small drifting organisms that float in the sea (Greek planktos = wanderer or drifter). By definition, organisms classified as plankton are unable to swim against ocean currents; they cannot resist the ambient current and control their position.
The term derives from the Greek word δῖνος (dînos), meaning whirling, and Latin flagellum, a diminutive term for a whip or scourge. In the 1830s, the German microscopist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg examined many water and plankton samples and proposed several dinoflagellate genera that are still used today including Peridinium ...
Meroplankton can be contrasted with holoplankton, which are planktonic organisms that stay in the pelagic zone as plankton throughout their entire life cycle. [ 3 ] After a period of time in the plankton, many meroplankton graduate to the nekton or adopt a benthic (often sessile ) lifestyle on the seafloor .