Plankton Station

INLAND SEAS EDUCATION

ASSOCIATION

INLAND SEAS EDUCATION

ASSOCIATION“Protecting the Great Lakes through

Education”Plankton StationPlankton Station

Plankton Station Learning Objectives

1. Identify the collection device used to sample plankton.

2. Define phytoplankton as suspended plants & zooplankton as suspended animals.

3. Recognize plankton as the basis of the aquatic food web.

4. Describe the trophic (feeding) relationships among phytoplankton, zooplankton, & fish.

5. Identify zooplankton seen on the video monitor & record their findings.

Students will be able to:

Plankton

Plankton are microscopic plants & animals that are free-floating or suspended

in the water

Plankton

= Phytoplankton

= Zooplankton

Plant plankton

Animal plankton

Plankton

Plankton are the basis of the aquatic food web

What is a Food Web?

A food web describes the feeding relationships

between different organisms

Feeding Relationships

1. Producers: organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis using sunlight & nutrients

2. Consumers: organisms that cannot produce their own food (need to consume another organism to obtain energy)

3. Decomposers: organisms that break down organic material

Zooplankton

Large Fish (Piscivores)

The Great Lakes Food Web

SUN

Phytoplankton

Forage Fish

Benthos

Detritus

Contaminants in the Great Lakes Food Web

Source: EPA Great Lakes National Program Office

Bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of contaminants in the

tissues of organisms

Many contaminants are hydrophobic (they prefer to be in the lipids/fats of an organism rather than in water) & are taken up in the fatty tissues of

organisms

Bioconcentration

Source: EPA Great Lakes National Program Office

Diel vertical migration

Shallow waters at nightDeep waters during the day

…in response to changing light intensity

Why?1.Metabloic advantage2.Predator avoidance

LogisticsCheck to make sure the micro-video system is working

Begin by discussing how the plankton were collected, where plankton fit into the food web, etc.

Students put several drops of the sample on a petri dish (the smaller the better)

Since the boat & plankton are moving & this station is below deck, students may get seasick– Let the lead instructor know & they will take

the student on deck for a break

COPEPODS

CalanoidCopepod

CyclopoidCopepod

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

CalanoidCopepod

Cyclopoid Copepods

Sources: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Sources: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

HarpacticoidCopepod

Source: USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Copepod nauplius/nauplii

COPEPODS

Copepod nauplius

Source: Micrographia

CLADOCERANS

BosminaDaphni

a

Bosmina

Source: Central Michigan University

Daphnia

Sources: Advancing the Science of Limnology and Oceanography (left); NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (right)

CLADOCERANS

Chydorus

Chydorus

Source: Central Michigan University

Leptodora

CLADOCERANS

PolyphemusSource: Central Michigan University

ROTIFERS

Asplanchna

Keratella

ColonialRotifer

Asplanchna

Source: Micrographia

Keratella

Source: Advancing the Science of Limnology and Oceanography

Colonial rotifer

MYSIDS

Mysis relicta(opossum shrimp)

Mysis relicta

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

EXOTIC SPECIES

Bythotrephes longiramus(spiny water flea)

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Bythotrephes

EXOTIC SPECIES

Cercopagis pengoi(fish hook water flea)

Cercopagis

Bythotrephes

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

ZEBRA MUSSELS

Veliger Adult

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (right)

Zebra mussel veliger

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Bloody Red ShrimpHemimysis anomala

Source: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Seasonal Succession of Zooplankton Abundance

May June July Aug

Plankton Net30

CA

A

R

The Plankton Station

SourcesAdvancing the Science of Limnology and Oceanography (

http://www.aslo.org/photopost/showgallery.php/cat/518)

Central Michigan University “Zooplankton of the Great Lakes” (www.cst.cmich.edu/users/mcnau1as/zooplankton%20web/index.html)

Micrographia (www.micrographia.com)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/photogallery/Waterlife/index.html)

United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office (www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/index.html)

United States Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database (http://nas.er.usgs.gov/)

All pictures and drawings not cited during the presentation were provided by Inland Seas Education Association. These pictures can be used freely for educational purposes if ISEA is correctly attributed. All commercial use of these pictures is prohibited.