phytoplankton

[ fahy-tuh-plangk-tuhn ]

noun

1. the aggregate of plants and plantlike organisms in plankton.

phytoplankton

/ ˌfaɪtəplæŋkˈtɒnɪk; ˌfaɪtəˈplæŋktən /

noun

1. See zooplankton
   the photosynthesizing organisms in plankton, mainly unicellular algae and cyanobacteria Compare zooplankton

phytoplankton

/ fī′tō-plăngk′tən /

1. Plankton consisting of free-floating algae, protists, and cyanobacteria. Phytoplankton form the beginning of the food chain for aquatic animals and fix large amounts of carbon, which would otherwise be released as carbon dioxide.

Derived Forms

• phytoplanktonic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of phytoplankton¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; phyto- + plankton

Example Sentences

Where there’s an active, healthy whale pump, you’ll have more phytoplankton, and phytoplankton is the basis for at least half of the oxygen on the planet.

From Nautilus

One of the big questions to emerge from the study, Cassar adds, is just how much carbon these phytoplankton may have ultimately removed from the atmosphere as they bloomed.

From Science News

Aerosols from the fires also traveled eastward through the lower atmosphere, ultimately reaching the Southern Ocean where they triggered blooms of phytoplankton in its iron-starved waters.

From Science News

Researchers can then use a mathematical model to estimate the corresponding amount of phytoplankton there is.

From Popular-Science

They collected phytoplankton in the sea for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California.

From Time