Editing Phytoplankton (section)

==Role of phytoplankton==
[[File:Role of phytoplankton on various compartments of the marine environment.png|thumb|upright=2.1| {{center|Role of phytoplankton on various compartments of the marine environment{{hsp}}<ref name=Heinrichs2020 />}}]]

The compartments influenced by phytoplankton include the atmospheric gas composition, inorganic nutrients, and trace element fluxes as well as the transfer and cycling of organic matter via biological processes (see figure). The photosynthetically fixed carbon is rapidly recycled and reused in the surface ocean, while a certain fraction of this biomass is exported as sinking particles to the deep ocean, where it is subject to ongoing transformation processes, e.g., remineralization.<ref name=Heinrichs2020>{{cite book |doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-20389-4_15|chapter = Complex Interactions Between Aquatic Organisms and Their Chemical Environment Elucidated from Different Perspectives|title = YOUMARES 9 - the Oceans: Our Research, Our Future|year = 2020|last1 = Heinrichs|first1 = Mara E.|last2 = Mori|first2 = Corinna|last3 = Dlugosch|first3 = Leon|pages = 279–297|isbn = 978-3-030-20388-7|s2cid = 210308256}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>

Phytoplankton contribute to not only a basic pelagic marine food web but also to the microbial loop. Phytoplankton are the base of the marine food web and because they do not rely on other organisms for food, they make up the first trophic level. Organisms such as zooplankton feed on these phytoplankton which are in turn fed on by other organisms and so forth until the fourth trophic level is reached with apex predators. Approximately 90% of total carbon is lost between trophic levels due to respiration, detritus, and dissolved organic matter. This makes the remineralization process and nutrient cycling performed by phytoplankton and bacteria important in maintaining efficiency.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Lalli, Carol M. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/837077589 |title=Biological oceanography an introduction |date=16 May 1997 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-7506-3384-0 |oclc=837077589}}</ref>

Phytoplankton blooms in which a species increases rapidly under conditions favorable to growth can produce [[harmful algal bloom]]s (HABs).

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