Beware the mixotrophs - they can destroy entire ecosystems 'in a matter of hours'

AN INTERESTING article, which was first published in the online journal The Conversation, is reproduced in the current edition of Scientific American, writes Richard Collins. 

It concerns plankton, the multitude of mostly tiny organisms living in the oceans which are the basis of all marine life and from which, eons ago, all life on Earth evolved.

The plural noun “plankton”, comes from Greek meaning “to drift”. Most “plankters” are unable to swim against the current; they drift along with the flow. Tiny organisms, they live not only in the sea but also in rivers lakes and ponds. Even the great whales depend on them for sustenance.