microbenthos
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microbenthos benthos consisting of the smallest animals, i.e., Protozoa. The arbitrary upper boundary of the animal size is generally set at about 100 11m,
which is the lower limit for meiobenthos. ---7benthos.
microbes ---7microorganisms.
microbial decomposition the return of constituents of organic matter to ecological cycles by the activities of microorganisms, ---7biogeochemical cycles. This
recycling of material is essential for life on earth.
microbial food web ---7microbialloop.
microbial loop (or microbial food web) term describing the complex of organisms
and processes thought to be responsible for transferring back into the traditional grazing food chain dissolved organic matter "lost" from phytoplankton either by exudation, autolysis, or due to herbivorous feeding.
microbiology study of microorganisms.
microcosm microecosystem, ---7mesocosm.
microfauna microscopic animals roughly less than 0.1 mm in length. ---7microbenthos and microorganisms.
microflagellates a diversity of criteria has been used in classifying organisms as
belonging to the microflagellates; photosynthetic cells have been alternately
included and excluded. The concept has no systematic value and has been
loosely applied to distinguish the smallest eukaryotic cells, often flagellated,
from larger cells. Microflagellates are now split up into several phyla of the
kingdom Protoctista. ---7Mastigophora.
microfossil fossil too small to be studied without the aid of a microscope. May
be either the remainder of a microscopic organism or small part of a larger
organism (examples of the last: otoliths and phytoliths). By size we distinguish
micro- and nanofossils, the last being only visible at the highest light microscope magnification or with the aid of an electron microscope (e.g., coccoliths
and discoasters). Several useful groups of microscopic organisms are studied,
which can be divided on the basis of skeletal composition: calcareous (Foraminifera, coccoliths, discoasters, Ostracoda, Pteropoda, calpionellids), siliceous (Radiolaria, diatoms, Silicoflagellata) and organic-walled (spores, pollen, Dinoflagellata, Chitinozoa). ---7micropaleontology and ---7biostratigraphy.
194
microbenthos benthos consisting of the smallest animals, i.e., Protozoa. The arbitrary upper boundary of the animal size is generally set at about 100 11m,
which is the lower limit for meiobenthos. ---7benthos.
microbes ---7microorganisms.
microbial decomposition the return of constituents of organic matter to ecological cycles by the activities of microorganisms, ---7biogeochemical cycles. This
recycling of material is essential for life on earth.
microbial food web ---7microbialloop.
microbial loop (or microbial food web) term describing the complex of organisms
and processes thought to be responsible for transferring back into the traditional grazing food chain dissolved organic matter "lost" from phytoplankton either by exudation, autolysis, or due to herbivorous feeding.
microbiology study of microorganisms.
microcosm microecosystem, ---7mesocosm.
microfauna microscopic animals roughly less than 0.1 mm in length. ---7microbenthos and microorganisms.
microflagellates a diversity of criteria has been used in classifying organisms as
belonging to the microflagellates; photosynthetic cells have been alternately
included and excluded. The concept has no systematic value and has been
loosely applied to distinguish the smallest eukaryotic cells, often flagellated,
from larger cells. Microflagellates are now split up into several phyla of the
kingdom Protoctista. ---7Mastigophora.
microfossil fossil too small to be studied without the aid of a microscope. May
be either the remainder of a microscopic organism or small part of a larger
organism (examples of the last: otoliths and phytoliths). By size we distinguish
micro- and nanofossils, the last being only visible at the highest light microscope magnification or with the aid of an electron microscope (e.g., coccoliths
and discoasters). Several useful groups of microscopic organisms are studied,
which can be divided on the basis of skeletal composition: calcareous (Foraminifera, coccoliths, discoasters, Ostracoda, Pteropoda, calpionellids), siliceous (Radiolaria, diatoms, Silicoflagellata) and organic-walled (spores, pollen, Dinoflagellata, Chitinozoa). ---7micropaleontology and ---7biostratigraphy.