Zooplankton main fare for Arctic cod, marine birds and bowhead whales
Posted by ScienceDaily: Oceanography News on 6 June, 2011
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In parts of the northern Arctic region, the delicate balance of the food chain depends heavily on the the diminutive copepod Calanus glacialis. This herbivorous Arctic zooplankton species is specially adapted to melting sea ice and the blooming of a few small algal species. Researchers in Norway have made new discoveries about the relationship between sunlight, phytoplankton and zooplankton, and about the critical role that sea ice plays for plankton....