On the production of living matter in the sea off Plymouth

Abstract

A study, now in progress, of the phosphorus cycle in the sea off Plymouth required some knowledge of the amount of plants and of several ecological groups of animals. There were no existing data except for zooplankton and the larger net-caught phytoplankton. From information supplied by friends and colleagues, it was possible to make tentative estimates of the average biomass of other groups of animals occurring below unit area of the sea.