Carbon flow within planktonic food WEB

Abstract

In aquatic environment, there are two main pathways by which carbon flows from autotrophic to heterotrophic organisms: the classical herbivorous food web and the microbial food web (Azam et al. 1983, Sherr et al. 1986, Legendre and Rassaulzadegan 1995). In the classical herbivorous food web, the carbon flows directly from large autotrophs to metazoans (Pomeroy 1974).