The Food Chain’s Weak Link

Microscopic plants in the ocean, called phytoplankton, are among the most important creatures on Earth and produce half of the planet’s oxygen. But they are in trouble. A new study finds that since 1950, the amount of phytoplankton in the ocean’s surface waters — the basis of the ocean’s food web — has declined by 40 percent.

Biologist Boris Worm is noted for his studies showing that the world’s fisheries are in sharp decline. Most of that trend is due to overfishing, but it turns out that may not be the whole story. So the researcher at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia has now turned his attention to the marine food chain and the ocean plant life that ultimately feeds almost everything else.

“The very fundamental question would be: Is the ocean getting more or less green? Is it increasing in plant life or decreasing?” Worm says.

Read the full story at NPR