Plankton are the diverse community of aquatic organisms that drift with water currents, lacking the ability to swim effectively against them, and that form the productive foundation of marine and freshwater ecosystems. They are conventionally divided into phytoplankton, the photosynthetic microalgae and cyanobacteri…
Plankton are the diverse community of aquatic organisms that drift with water currents, lacking the ability to swim effectively against them, and that form the productive foundation of marine and freshwater ecosystems. They are conventionally divided into phytoplankton, the photosynthetic microalgae and cyanobacteria that fix carbon and generate much of the planet's oxygen, and zooplankton, the heterotrophic animals ranging from protists and copepods to the larval stages of larger species and gelatinous forms such as jellyfish. Further classification by size, from picoplankton to macroplankton, and by life history, distinguishing holoplankton that remain planktonic throughout life from meroplankton that are planktonic only temporarily, reflects the group's ecological breadth. Plankton occupy the base of aquatic food webs, transferring energy from primary production to fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals, and they play central roles in nutrient cycling and the biological carbon pump. Their composition and abundance are sensitive indicators of water quality and environmental change, so community studies often use diversity indices to characterize phytoplankton assemblages and detect ecological shifts. Research also documents the distribution and first records of planktonic and gelatinous taxa, including hydrozoans and introduced scyphozoan jellyfish whose aggregations can signal range expansion and ecosystem disturbance. By linking primary production, biodiversity, and higher trophic levels, plankton are essential to understanding the structure, functioning, and resilience of aquatic ecosystems.
5 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 5 articles above have been cited 60 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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