Patricia Wheeler, now Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, taught biological oceanography and phytoplankton physiology there for many years. Her research contributions address phytoplankton nutrient dynamics and include work on dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen. She conducted field work in the Equatorial Pacific, the northern California Current system and the Arctic Ocean.

Preface to the second edition vii

Acknowledgements viii

1 Ocean ecology: some fundamental aspects 1

2 The phycology of phytoplankton 19

3 Habitat determinants of primary production in the sea 49

4 Numerical models: the standard form of theory in pelagic ecology 73

5 A sea of microbes: archaea, bacteria, protists, and viruses in the marine pelagial 96

6 The zoology of zooplankton 115

7 Production ecology of marine zooplankton 130

8 Population biology of zooplankton 158

9 Pelagic food webs 181

10 Biogeography of pelagic habitats 202

11 Biome and province analysis of the oceans 230

12 Adaptive complexes of meso- and bathypelagic organisms 276

13 The fauna of deep-sea sediments 292

14 Some benthic community ecology 321

15 Submarine hydrothermal vents 351

16 Ocean ecology and global climate change 367

17 Fisheries oceanography 396

References 427

Index 459