Ocean Atlas

Introduction

A global “atlas” that shows the distribution of tiny creatures in our oceans has been developed. The database, called Marine Ecosystem Data (Maredat), is the result of three years of collaboration between marine biologists from numerous universities across the globe. Boasting of half a million data points, it is the most comprehensive survey of marine plankton to date. Plankton refers to a broad class of organisms, ranging from microscopic bacteria to jellyfish, which are an integral part of the marine food chain. An understanding of how these invisible ecosystems change over time, how different plankton species are distributed and when they appear can help create better models for climate change and ocean acidification. 

Source

Down To Earth, August 2013