Methods Shape Our Understanding

In plankton ecology, we have historically asked three major questions (albeit at various scales and with varying levels of detail): (1) who is in the plankton and at what concentration? (2) how (and how fast) and why do they change with time? and (3) What is the yield or fate of primary production (loss to the deep sea or fish production)? Our more contemporary questions relate to how human actions are changing these dynamics. Methods and available tools shape our understanding. This chapter takes a look at how methods have revolutionized our understanding of biomass, its composition, and rates of productivity. From historical methods and key discoveries to contemporary approaches, this chapter shows how new methods have punctuated new discoveries.