ZIMMERMAN T.

Plankton is at the bottom of the food chain. Microscopic phytoplankton account for about 50% of all photosynthesis on Earth, corresponding to 50 billion tons of carbon each year, or about 125 billion tonnes of sugar[1]. Plankton is also the food for most species of fish, and therefore it represents the backbone of the aquatic environment. Thus,...

Changes in morphology and swimming dynamics of plankton by exposure to toxic chemicals are studied using a novel a new paradigm of image acquisition and computer vision system. Single cell ciliate Stentor coeruleus enclosed in a drop of water provide a means to automatically deposit many individual samples on a at surface. Chemicals of interest...

Biologists use optical microscopes to study plankton in the lab, but their size, complexity and cost makes widespread deployment of microscopes in lakes and oceans challenging. Monitoring the morphology, behavior and distribution of plankton in situ is essential as they are excellent indicators of marine environment health and provide a...