Summary: Plankton are small organisms that dwell in oceans, seas and bodies of fresh water. In this review, we discuss life in the plankton, which involves a balance between the behavioral capabilities of the organism and the characteristics and movement of the water that surrounds it. In order to consider this balance, we discuss how plankton interact with their environment across a range of scales – from the smallest viruses and bacteria to larger phytoplankton and zooplankton. We find that the larger scale distributions of plankton, observed in coastal waters, along continental shelves and in ocean basins, are highly dependent upon the smaller scale interactions between the individual organism and its environment. Further, we discuss how larger scale organism distributions may affect the transport and/or retention of plankton in the ocean environment. The research reviewed here provides a mechanistic understanding of how organism behavior in response to the physical environment produces planktonic aggregations, which has a direct impact on the way marine ecosystems function.

Life for many of the world’s marine fish begins at the ocean surface. Ocean conditions dictate food availability and govern survivorship, yet little is known about the habitat preferences of larval fish during this highly vulnerable life-history stage. Here we show that surface slicks, a ubiquitous coastal ocean convergence feature, are important nurseries for larval fish from many ocean habitats at ecosystem scales. Slicks had higher densities of marine phytoplankton (1.7-fold), zooplankton (larval fish prey; 3.7-fold), and larval fish (8.1-fold) than nearby ambient waters across our study region in Hawai‘i. Slicks contained larger, more well-developed individuals with competent swimming abilities compared to ambient waters, suggesting a physiological benefit to increased prey resources. Slicks also disproportionately accumulated prey-size plastics, resulting in a 60-fold higher ratio of plastics to larval fish prey than nearby waters. Dissections of hundreds of larval fish found that 8.6% of individuals in slicks had ingested plastics, a 2.3-fold higher occurrence than larval fish from ambient waters. Plastics were found in 7 of 8 families dissected, including swordfish (Xiphiidae), a commercially targeted species, and flying fish (Exocoetidae), a principal prey item for tuna and seabirds. Scaling up across an ∼1,000 km ² coastal ecosystem in Hawai‘i revealed slicks occupied only 8.3% of ocean surface habitat but contained 42.3% of all neustonic larval fish and 91.8% of all floating plastics. The ingestion of plastics by larval fish could reduce survivorship, compounding threats to fisheries productivity posed by overfishing, climate change, and habitat loss.

Winter, K. B., N. K. Lincoln, F. Berkes, R. A. Alegado, N. Kurashima, K. L. Frank, P. Pascua, Y. M. Rii, F. Reppun, I. S. S. Knapp, W. C. McClatchey, T. Ticktin, C. Smith, E. C. Franklin, K. Oleson, M. R. Price, M. A. McManus, M. J. Donahue, K. S. Rodgers, B. W. Bowen, C. E. Nelson, B. Thomas, J.-A. Leong, E. M. P. Madin, M. A. J. Rivera, K. A. Falinski, L. L. Bremer, J. L. Deenik, S. M. Gon III, B. Neilson, R. Okano, A. Olegario, B. Nyberg, A. H. Kawelo, K. Kotubetey, J. K. Kukea-Shultz, and R. J. Toonen. 2020. Ecomimicry in Indigenous resource management: optimizing ecosystem services to achieve resource abundance, with examples from Hawaiʻi. Ecology and Society 25(2):26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11539-250226

Winter, K. B., Y. M. Rii, F. A. W. L. Reppun, K. DeLaforgue Hintzen, R. A. Alegado, B. W. Bowen, L. L. Bremer, M. Coffman, J. L. Deenik, M. J. Donahue, K. A. Falinski, K. Frank, E. C. Franklin, N. Kurashima, N. Kekuewa Lincoln, E. M. P. Madin, M. A. McManus, C. E. Nelson, R. Okano, A. Olegario, P. Pascua, K. L. L. Oleson, M. R. Price, M. J. Rivera, K. S. Rodgers, T. Ticktin, C. L. Sabine, C. M. Smith, A. Hewett, R. Kaluhiwa, M. Cypher, B. Thomas, J.-A. Leong, K. Kekuewa, J. Tanimoto, K. Kukea-Shultz, A. Kawelo, K. Kotubetey, B. J. Neilson, T. S. Lee, and R. J. Toonen. 2020. Collaborative research to inform adaptive comanagement: a framework for the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve. Ecology and Society 25(4):15. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11895-250415