Zooplankton numbers plummet

Numbers of zooplankton, tiny organisms that form the base of the ocean’s food chain, have plummeted 70 percent since the 1960s, according to numbers collected Defra and included without further comment in a graph in their 2008-2009 Marine Program Plan.

Buglife – www.buglife.org.uk – noticed this graph and have begun sounding the alarm. “The implications for marine productivity and fisheries are mindboggling,” according to Buglife Scottish officer Craig Macadam. “The biomass of the seas is (or was!) enormous. This statistic must represent a very significant reduction in the number and weight of living organisms in the UK and as the entire marine food chain rests on zooplankton, a disruption in their populations is therefore expected to affect all ocean life.

Category: Conservation