The largest specimens of nano-phytoplankton barely equal the width of the finest strand of human hair, while impossibly small pico-phytoplankton is 10-100 times tinier again.
Although virtually invisible, the two self-feeding microscopic organisms represent the beginning of the food chain for the entirety of Earth’s aquatic mammal population including that which thrives in Australia’s prime marine habitats.
Yet scientists say that these microscopic organisms are under threat from ozone depletion and global warming.
Enter a team of South Australian scientists determined to learn whether something can be done about it.
The focus of their multi-year study has been to establish precisely how pico- and nano-phytoplankton underpin the so far stable stock of animal- or zooplankton species that support the vast and diverse food web within the Great Australian Bight….