Planktology

The CO ₂ processed by the plankton is transported to greater depths and into the sediment via the biological pump .

Photomontage phytoplankton and zooplankton

Planktology is a branch of oceanography and describes the science and teaching of organisms that float in the sea and freshwater . These are known as plankton .

Planktology also deals with issues such as primary production , predator-prey relationships, and energy flows . The carbon budget in particular has become a topical field in recent years.

Plankton is the engine for the " biological pump ", a process in which carbon is transported through the bodies of the organisms into the deep sea . Such processes are important in view of the discussions about the carbon sink , a great hope for the future that some of the carbon currently accumulated in the earth's atmosphere as carbon dioxide could be stored in the ocean by organisms. Due to the anthropogenic burning of fossil fuels , carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere and this ultimately leads to global warming .

Planktology has recently also increasingly included behavioral aspects of “driving life” and is developing modern in-situ image systems, as within the LEO project, with some projects even allowing the population to participate directly online .

In recent years planktologists are increasingly having to as " plastic plankton called" remnants of civilization wastes confronted, some of which are mitgefressen of plankton filter feeders, or incorporated itself into even smaller parts of the plankton living beings and through bioaccumulation accumulate in the food chain.

Eminent planktologists

• Victor Hensen (1835–1924) - is considered the founder of modern planktology
• Karl Banse (* 1929 in Königsberg)
• Johannes Krey (1912–1975)
• Jürgen Lenz (* 1933)
• Gotthilf Hempel (* 1929)
• Paul G. Falkowski (* 1951) - important contributions on phytoplankton and especially its connections with the climate, Tyler Prize winner 2018
• Sayed ElSayed

literature

• Ulrich Sommer : Planktology . Springer, Berlin Heidelberg 1994, ISBN 978-3-540-57676-1 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-78804-8 .

See also

• Nekton

Individual evidence

1. ^ Holly Lauridsen: When Plastic Outnumbers Plankton: Insights into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. June 16, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Meinhard Simon: The bacterioplankton - giant and regulator in the marine metabolism . In: Gotthilf Hempel, Irmtraut Hempel, Siegrid Schiel (eds.): Fascination Marine Research . HM Hauschild, Bremen, ISBN 3-89757-310-5 , p. 71 .
3. ↑ 2018 Tyler Laureates - Paul G. Falkowski and James J. McCarthy. Retrieved April 18, 2019 .