Question

Importance of phytoplankton in maintaining oxygen balance

Answer 1

much like land-based plant phytoplankton require sunlight, water ,nutrient for growth .they get their green colour from chlorophyll which also allows them to perform photosynthesis creating their own food from sunlight and carbon dioxide

Answer 2

Global Ecosystems

Phytoplankton are important to the global ecosystem as well as oceanic ecosystems. They are responsible for half of the photosynthetic activity on the planet. This means that of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that gets fixed into sugars, phytoplankton are doing half of the work. This makes them important to global carbon-dioxide levels. Without phytoplankton to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, carbon-dioxide levels would rise, because carbon dioxide would continue to be produced in both biological and industrial sources.

Types

Phytoplankton are in a group because of the ecological role, or niche, that they play. They consist of plants, animals, archaea and bacteria. Three of the major types of phytoplankton include diatoms, dinoflagellates and microflagellates. Diatoms are relatively large, reaching .2 mm in length, divide rapidly, and have minimal ability to control their movement. Dinoflagellates are smaller, divide less rapidly and have flagella to regulate their position in the water. Microflagellates are very small, divide slowly and, like dinoflagellates, have flagella for maneuvering.

Economic Importance

Phytoplankton's role in the global ecosystem has made them a target for controlling carbon-dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere. Companies such as Climos and Planktos have invested in phytoplankton as a means of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. They are investigating fertilizing phytoplankton communities with iron, a vital nutrient, to promote their growth. As political and economic pressures to provide carbon-dioxide emissions offsets increases, the potential profit of companies like these increases.