CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF HARYANA
PRESENTED BY :
AMIT
8727
EVS
PLANKTONIC

WHAT IS PLANKTON?
• Animals and plants that
either float passively in the
water, or possess such
limited powers of swimming
that they are carried from
place to place by the
currents.
• “ Plankton ” is not a single
species but a large group of
organisms.

The word plankton comes from the
Greek word planktos, which means
‘wandering’ or ‘drifting’.
Types of Plankton -
Phytoplankton- microscopic
plants and bacteria.
Zooplankton- microscopic
animals

Phytoplankton are photosynthetic
autotrophs, who begin all marine food
webs.
• Produce 50-90% of all atmospheric
oxygen, and are critical biomass.
• They are adapted to a floating lifestyle.
• Phytoplankton don’t have roots , stems
or leaves. But like land plants , they are
able to capture sunlight and convert it
into food.
• Each phytoplankton is a single cell or a
chain of cells.

• Phytoplankton live near the surface of the
ocean close to the sun because they need
sunlight to make food.
• The shape of the phytoplankton keep them
from sinking to far below the surface of
the ocean.

Some important types of phytoplankton &
where they found
•Diatoms: temperate and polar waters, silica case or
shell
•Dinoflagellates : tropical and subtropical waters....
also summer in temperate
•Coccolithophores : tropical, calcium carbonate shells
or "tests"
•Silicoflagellates : silica internal skeleton... found
world wide, particularly in Antarctic
•Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae): not true algae,
often in brackish nearshore waters and warm water
gyres
•Green Algae: not common except in lagoons and
estuaries

The primary consumers,
heterotrophic herbivores,
in food webs.
• They are the smallest
and most numerous
marine animals.
• Their population density
depends on the
availability of
phytoplankton upon
which they graze.
Zooplankton

• Crustaceans: Copepods
Krill
Cladocera
Mysids
Ostracods
• Jellies
Cniderian (True jellies, Man-of-
wars, By-the-wind-sailors)
• Ctenophores (comb jellies)
• Urochordates (salps and larvacea)
• Worms (Arrow worms, polychaetes)
• Pteropods (planktonic snails)
Some important types of zooplankton

How are phytoplankton different from
zooplankton?
Phytoplankton
• Producers
• Single cells or chains of
cells
including the smallest
plankton – picoplankton
(0.2-2 microns)
• Remain near the surface
Zooplankton
• Consumers (including
herbivores and
carnivores)
• Include microscopic
and macroscopic
organisms
• May vertically migrate
(to a depth of 200m)
during the day for
protection but
resurface at night to
feed

• Important part of global
carbon cycle
• Food source (basis of the
food web)
• Producer of oxygen
(photosynthesis)
Why are plankton important?

Where are plankton found?
Plankton dominates the well-lit
surface layers of the world's oceans.

How are plankton studied?
• Collected with special
nets
and sampling bottles
• Underwater cameras
• Microscopes
Satellites
Bongo nets may be towed over the side of the ship to collect
plankton.
Photo: NOAA

Plankton are an energy source for marine ecosystems
• Many plankton are primary producers
• Over 90% of marine primary production (energy
produced) is from phytoplankton . The rest is
from marine plants and other sources.
• This map shows
productivity in the
Oceans
• Red and yellow are most
productive, followed by
green and blue.
Black is least productive.
Photo:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080305_oceandesert.html;
Accessed: November 2010

Satellites can also help scientists study plankton
• Satellites equipped with
colour scanners measure
the concentration of
chlorophyll in the ocean
• Red and orange indicate
higher concentration of
chlorophyll, while blue
and green represent
lower concentrations
• Chlorophyll is an indicator
of plankton and can be
used to study plankton
populations Satellite image of the Gulf of Maine,
May 2002
Photo: NASA Earth Observatory Collection,
http://www.nasaimages.org/luna/servlet/detail/nasaNAS~10~10~83665~
189949:North-Atlantic-in-Bloom; Accessed:

CONCLUSION
 These are the primary food for most of the
aquatic animals, e.g.:- whale
 They autotrophic help in CO2 fixation means
help in the carbon fixation,
 Because of these activity our oceans called as a
carbon sink,
 They make there food by the photosynthesis,
 They produce oxygen 50-90%,
 Small but important player of the earth

REFERENCES
 www.omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/biolo
gy/plank3.htm
 www.sciencing.com/importance-phytoplankton-
5414740.html
 https://www.globe.gov/explore-
science/scientists-
blog/.../index.html_p=1763.html