Plankton

Question 1

What are plankton

Answer 1

weakly swimming or drifting organisms

Question 2

Why are plankton important

Answer 2

Important part of global carbon cycle
Food source (basis of the food web)
Producer of oxygen (photosynthesis)
Cause of toxic “blooms” (resulting in fish kills and shellfish poisoning)
Means for dispersal of organisms by transport in currents

Produce 50% of oxygen we breath

Question 3

what type of producer is plankton

Answer 3

photosynthesis primer

Question 4

how are plankton studied

Answer 4

Special nets/sampling bottles
Microscopes and underwater camera
Satellites
Cultured in lab

Question 5

Do organisms spend their entire lives as plankton?

Answer 5

Holoplankton do

Meroplankton only spend a part of their lives as plankton

Question 6

Holoplankton

Answer 6

Plankton their entire lives

Question 7

Examples of holoplankton

Answer 7

Euphausiid
Copepod
Amphipod

Question 8

Meroplankton

Answer 8

Meroplankton spend only a part of their life cycle drifting

As they mature they become nekton (free swimmers) or benthic (crawlers)

Question 9

Examples of meroplankton

Answer 9

Fish and crab larvae

Question 10

Two Categories of Plankton

Answer 10

Phytoplankton and zooplankton

Question 11

Describe Phytoplankton

Answer 11

Producers, single celled, remain near surface

Question 12

Describe Zooplankton

Answer 12

Consumers (herbivores and carnivores)
Microscopic and macroscopic organisms
- Consumers (herbivores and carnivores)
Microscopic and macroscopic organisms