Plankton: A Worldwide Guide - Book review

Plankton: A Worldwide Guide

Tom Jackson and Jennifer Parker

Consultant editor Andrew Hirst

There has been a need for some time for an accessible book about plankton. These often microscopic organisms are essential for life on Earth, and I am always surprised at how little the general public knows about their fascinating ecology and the wide-ranging ecosystem services they provide. So I was delighted to see a new volume come onto the market, ‘Plankton: A Worldwide Guide’ by Tom Jackson and Jennifer Parker. If it’s a taxonomy guide to plankton species you’re after, this publication isn’t it, but if you’re looking for a beautiful and informative book to give you a thorough overview of plankton life and ecology, ‘Plankton’ has you covered.

For starters, the photography in this book is more than coffee-table-worthy, and to be honest, even if you never even read it, it’ll still look awesome in your living room. In each chapter, there are gorgeous full-page prints of a selection of the weirdest and most wonderful plankton species (both marine and freshwater), along with insights into their ecology and biology. These alone give you an appreciation of the sheer variety of plankton. But do delve deeper into the pages of text and graphics, because unless you’re a seasoned plankton expert, you’ll learn a lot (I study plankton every day and I definitely learnt a thing or two!).

After the introduction, the book is separated into 6 non-threatening chapters each with a different ecological theme and packed with information from the basics of biology to the specifics of plankton. In Chapter 1 “A Wonderful Diversity’ we learn about the beginnings of life on Earth through endosymbiosis and are introduced to the various types of organisms found in the plankton. We also get some information on how scientists sample plankton. Chapter 2 ‘Lifestyles and Adaptations’ gets into some of the geographical features of the ocean, and how plankton adapt and thrive in different environments. Chapter 3 is ‘Feeding and Breeding’ and goes beyond the usual ‘autotrophic and heterotrophic’ explanations to give us details on photosynthetic metabolic pathways and the biological carbon pump as well as a brief introduction to reproductive strategies. I loved that in Chapter 4 ‘Where Plankton Wanders’ the authors included a section on areoplankton (plankton of the air) as this was something I had never considered. This chapter also discusses more familiar topics such as oceanic zones, mixing and diurnal migration. Food webs get their own chapter ‘Feeding the Oceans’ where some of the concepts introduced earlier in the book are expanded - trophic levels and the carbon pump for example. We get introduced to the microbial loop too. All of the concepts discussed in this book are accompanied by clear and simple graphics along with photographs, which makes the sometimes quite scientific ideas easier to digest. The last chapter in the book ‘Facing the Future’ is unsurprisingly about plankton in times ahead. Climate change is predicted to alter plankton communities, and although we’re not quite sure how and to what extent yet, this final chapter gives us a brief overview of the possible consequences of our warming planet and other anthropogenic influences such as pollution, mining and fishing.

Overall, ‘Plankton: A Worldwide Guide’ is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Scientific enough to feel like you’re learning important information (you are!) but informal enough to not be dry or overwhelming. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in plankton or marine biology, from teenagers upwards. It would make a great gift for any thalassophile on its artistic merit alone. It’s the sort of book you don’t have to read cover to cover. You can take your time, dip into what takes your fancy, or just look at the pictures on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Princeton University Press

ISBN: 978-0-691-25608-5