The term "zooplankton" describes the community of floating, often microscopic, animals that inhabit aquatic environments. Being near the base of the food chain, they serve as food for larger animals, such as fish.
The ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Zooplankton Methodology Manual provides comprehensive coverage of modern techniques in zooplankton ecology written by a group of international experts. Chapters include sampling, acoustic and optical methods, estimation of feeding, growth, reproduction and metabolism, and up-to-date treatment of population genetics and modeling. This book will be a key reference work for marine scientists throughout the world.
Key features
* Sampling and experimental design
* Collecting zooplankton
* Techniques for assessing biomass and abundance
* Protozooplankton enumeration and biomass estimation
* New optical and acoustic techniques for estimating zooplankton biomass and abundance
* Methods for measuring zooplankton feeding, growth, reproduction and metabolism
* Population genetic analysis of zooplankton
* Modelling zooplankton dynamics
This unique and comprehensive reference work will be essential reading for marine and freshwater research scientists and graduates entering the field.

From 1993 to 2001, the Institute of Marine Research in Norway carried out a research program, Mare cognitum, on the Norwegian Sea ecosystem. Drawing upon results from this program, the book summarizes the current knowledge about this ecosystem. In a series of chapters the readers are introduced to the geography, currents and water masses that are the abiotic setting or scene of the ecosystem, and to the plankton, fish, squids, whales, seals and seabirds that are the key biological components or actors in the ecosystem. The play is the ecological drama where the animals strive to find their food while avoiding to be eaten themselves. The Norwegian Sea ecosystem contains very large biomasses of zooplankton and pelagic fish stocks. It is characterized by pronounced seasonal cycles in plankton production and large-scale migrations of herring and other animal populations. - Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2005