Definition of "phytoplankton" [phytoplankton]

• Minute, free-floating aquatic plants. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Actually, most people don't know that this tiny plant life called phytoplankton is so small -- as small as bacteria -- that more than one trillion of them exist in a single drop of water."
• "The scientists found that long-term phytoplankton declines were negatively correlated with rising sea surface temperatures and changing oceanographic conditions."
• "This is called a phytoplankton "bloom" and in the blooming, these little guys take up tons of CO2 out of the water, which in turn pulls CO2 out of the air (ie, atmosphere), and - presto!"