Bacteria & Protists
What’s here?
This section is currently under construction, and will ultimately provide images and background on the groups of single-celled organisms found within the water column. None of the links are active.
The microbial component of the water column contins the bacteria, the phytoplankton (suspended algae), and an assortment of single-celled protists that operate as microzooplankton. In surface waters, bacteria typcially number millions per ml (milliliter), the phytoplankotn in the thousands and the microzooplankotn in the 10s to 100s.
Arctic phytoplankton have been studied for more than a century, with the species present in the major groups (the diatoms and dinoflagelllates) relatively well known. Between 500 and 1000 phytoplankton species occur within the Arctic. In contrast, the diversity with the bacteria and the animal protists are largely unknown and under active investigation. Molecular techniques already suggest there are thousands of bacterial species with the Arctic Ocean.
Page Author: Russ Hopcroft
Created: Nov 28, 2008
