The impacts of climate change on plankton as live food: A review

Abstract

Climate change is expected to warm up the ocean surface where majority of life inhabits. Ocean warming influences vertical mixing and stratification patterns, which alter nutrient cycle, plankton production, and aquatic food web. Plankton serves as the first food source for all larval organisms and the base of aquatic ecosystem. Zooplankton community is a crucial component of the aquatic food web. They are critical components in an ecosystem of aquatic and worldwide biogeochemical cycles. Zooplankton contributes as food source to economically valuable fishes, primary-production grazers, and carbon and nutrient cycle drivers. Climate change contributes to dire consequences by altering the baseline of aquatic food web structure. However, the ocean biota itself can influence climate change, and the implications of this are evident from the increase and decrease of wild fisheries production. This review highlights the effect of climate change on phytoplankton and zooplankton production.