Introduction
Plankton refers to free floating or weak swimming aquatic organisms that drift in water currents. They are distributed horizontally, vertically, and seasonally in water with the majority of plankton living in the photic zone, between 0-100m (Nybakken, 2001). The sunlight present in the photic zone is necessary for photosynthesis to occur in phytoplankton. In turn, zooplankton feed on plankton and other free swimming organisms feed on zooplankton. Therefore plankton is either directly or indirectly a source of food for most aquatic organisms and the base of the aquatic food web (Nybakken, 2001).
Plankton is primarily distributed by light but nutrient availability, climatic changes, and the presence of other plankton affect it (Nybakken, 2001). All of these factors result in the regional, climatic, seasonal, and time of day variance in plankton communities. Plankton thrives in specified conditions at the water's surface so these factors and the presence/ absence and abundance of plankton communities can be used as an environmental indicator.
To better understand the abundance and distribution of plankton communities in the Bahamas we will do several plankton toes during the day as well as at night to see how the time of day affects plankton.
Research question:
How do relative time and condition affect the population size and variety of plankton in any given sample?
Click here for additional information about our Plankton Tow research project.
