Phytoplankton Food Chain In The Ocean

Phytoplankton is the primary producer at the base in all types of water bodies particularly in the oceans.

Phytoplankton food chain in the ocean. These phytoplankton floats on the ocean surface. Phytoplankton are the foundation of the aquatic food web the primary producers feeding everything from microscopic animal-like zooplankton to multi-ton whales. Similarly when there are not enough phytoplankton to make food or if the wrong types of phytoplankton grow the food chain of the sea can collapse turning the ocean into a watery desert wasteland.

Many small fish and whales eat them. Food webs are built from food chainsall forms of life in the sea have the potential to become food for another life form. They are what is known as primary producers of the oceanthe organisms that form the base of the food chain.

Phytoplankton shrimp and other small organisms feed the fish. Like land plants they take up carbon dioxide make carbohydrates using light energy and release oxygen. They also provide the primary food source for the zooplankton and together form the base of the oceanic food chain.

The next level of the marine food chain is made up of animals that feast on the seas abundant plant life. The more phytoplankton present in the ocean water the greater the concentration of plant pigments. Are the producers of the ocean food chain.

A Three Step Food Chain. Phytoplankton consist mostly of algae and bacteria and are the foundation of the marine food chain. The term plankton refers to the body of passively floating or weakly motile organisms in a natural water body and is chiefly made up of phytoplankton zooplankton bacteria and viruses as well.

Sometimes the diameter of the phytoplankton is more than 3 mm. They usually range in diameter from 006 mm to 3 mm. Microscopic marine algae which form the basis of the ocean food chain.