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13.4: Microscopic Plants- Phytoplankton

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    Microscopic Plants: Phytoplankton

    Phytoplankton means “floating plants.Over 90% of the worlds food (carbohydrates) come from phytoplankton. It is the single most important process for life and the production of food on Earth.

    Types of phytoplankton include bacteria, protists, and single-celled plants. Primitive photosynthetic bacterial appear in the fossil record about 3 billion years ago. Their oxygen production is what made life possible for aerobic organisms (particularly animals) to evolve.

    Phytoplankton
    Figure 13.5. Phytoplankton.

    This page titled 13.4: Microscopic Plants- Phytoplankton is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Miracosta Oceanography 101 (Miracosta)) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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