Plankton are small floating plants, animals, and microbes, which play a major role in the production and cycling of organic matter in the water column.
The figure at bottom left shows seasonal density of total zooplankton, upper estuary cladocerans, and mid and lower estuary copepods (Jones et al. 1990).
The figure at bottom right shows mean water-column chl a concentrations by sampling months and by regions along the main estuary axis (top) and in the shallows and tributary rivers (bottom) (Small et al. 1990)
Controlling factors that affect plankton:
Currents
Hydrodynamics
Light
Nutrients
Salinity:Temperature
Turbidity
Ecosystem processes that are affected by plankton:
Primary Production
Food Web Support
Element Cycling
Additional information:
