# Plankton: A Worldwide Guide - Hardcover

by **Tom Jackson** (Author), **Andrew Hirst** (Editor), **Jennifer Parker** (Author)

**A richly illustrated guide to the marvelously diverse plankton of the world and their fundamental role in planetary food webs**

Plankton are the unsung heroes of planet Earth. Passive drifters through the world's seas, oceans, and freshwater environments, most are invisible or very small, but some are longer than a whale. They are the global ocean's foundation food, supporting almost all oceanic life, and they are also vitally important for land-based plants, animals, and other organisms. _Plankton_ provides an incomparable look at these remarkable creatures, opening a window on the elegance and grace of microscopic marine life.

This engaging book reveals the amazing diversity of plankton, how they belong to a wide range of living groups, and how their ecology, lifestyles, and adaptations have evolved to suit an enormous range of conditions. It looks at plankton life cycles, the different ways plankton feed and grow, and the vast range of strategies they use for reproduction. It tracks where, how, and why plankton drift through the water; shares perspectives on migrations and population explosions or "blooms" and why they happen; and discusses the life-sustaining role of plankton in numerous intertwined food webs throughout the world.

Beautifully illustrated, _Plankton_ sheds critical light on how global warming, pollution, diminishing resources, and overexploitation will adversely impact planktonic life, and how these effects will reverberate to every corner of our planet.

### Author Biography

**Tom Jackson** is a science writer whose many popular books include _Strange Animals_ and _Genetics in Minutes_. **Jennifer Parker** is a zoology and conservation writer and the author of several books. **Andrew Hirst** is a leading expert on plankton whose research has taken him around the world, from the Antarctic to Greenland and the Great Barrier Reef.

**Number of Pages:** 224

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 9.6 x 8.4 IN

**Publication Date:** April 09, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 29.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 29.95 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Plankton: A Worldwide Guide - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-21