miércoles, 13 de abril de 2011

Death--Not Just Life--Important Link in Marine Ecosystems


Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:00:00 -0500

Illustration showing the role of copepods in the food web of an estuary.







Tiny crustaceans called copepods rule the world, at least when it comes to oceans and estuaries.

The most numerous multi-cellular organisms in the seas, copepods are an important link between phytoplankton and fish in marine food webs.

To understand and predict how copepods respond to environmental change, scientists need to know not only how many new copepods are born, but how many are dying, say biological oceanographers David Elliott of the University of Maryland Center for ... 




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Provided by National Science Foundation