phytoplankton

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Quagga mussels filter the water and can wipe out phytoplankton, which is the base of the food chain.

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Definitions (3)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun Minute, free-floating aquatic plants.

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Examples (35)

  • In parts of the Pacific, the water is rich in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, yet microscopic plants--phytoplankton--grow poorly. —  Omni: June 1993
  • The idea is to stimulate a rapid blooming of phytoplankton, a microscopic algae that grows on the ocean surface. —  Blogger News Network
  • The first, by a group of researchers from Britain's National Oceanography Centre, led by Raymond Pollard, looked at the idea of dumping iron in the oceans to promote huge blooms of phytoplankton -- tiny algae that consume carbon dioxide as they grow. —  Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming RSS Newsfeed
  • The pump is driven by phytoplankton, the tiny plants that constantly convert sunlight and CO2 into more plants, half of which die or are eaten by zooplankton. —  EcoEarth.Info Environment RSS Newsfeed
  • Quagga mussels filter the water and can wipe out phytoplankton, which is the base of the food chain. —  Las Vegas Sun Stories: All Sun Headlines
 

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Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Greek φυτόν, plant, + New Latin plankton.
 

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/faɪtəˈplæŋktən/
by American Heritage
by Parker Smith

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