Loss Processes: The Tiny Feeding the Large

This chapter examines the fate of phytoplankton in terms of zooplankton grazing. Grazers influence nutrient and energy transfer to higher trophic levels, they are key mediators of the biological pump, and they represent the major fate of primary production. Here, feeding types and functional responses are described, as well as some of the methodologies for measuring grazing rates. The effects of grazers on phytoplankton diversity and some of their defenses against grazing are also described. Through preferential grazing, zooplankton can alter the size structure or species composition and the direct and indirect release of nutrients.