Aeroplankton

Detail of the formation of a dense aeroplankton cloud at sunset, over the Loire river in France.

Aeroplankton (or aerial plankton) are tiny lifeforms that float and drift in the air, carried by the current of the wind; they are the atmospheric analogue to oceanic plankton.

Most of the living things that make up aeroplankton are very small to microscopic in size, and many can be difficult to identify because of their tiny size. Scientists can collect them for study in traps and sweep nets from aircraft, kites or balloons.^[1]

The aeroplankton comprises numerous microbes, including viruses, about 1000 different species of bacteria, around 40,000 varieties of fungi, and hundreds of species of protists, algae, mosses and liverworts that live some part of their life cycle as aeroplankton, often as spores, pollen, and wind-scattered seeds.

A large number of small animals, mainly arthropods (such as insects and spiders), are also carried upwards into the atmosphere by air currents and may be found floating several thousand feet up. Aphids, for example, are frequently found at high altitudes.

Many species of spiders deliberately use the wind to propel themselves. The spider will find a vantage point (such as a branch, fence or surface) and, pointing its abdomen upward, eject fine threads of silk from its spinnerets. At some point, the force exerted by moving air upon the silk threads is great enough to launch the spider into the air. This is called ballooning. Such ballooning spiders (e.g. Linyphiidae) are capable of drifting many miles away from where they started. The flexibility of their silk draglines can aid the aerodynamics of their flight, causing the spiders to drift an unpredictable and sometimes long distance.^[2]

See also

• Aerobiology
• Organisms at high altitude

References

External links

• Living on the air

Plankton
About plankton	Algal bloom CLAW hypothesis High lipid content microalgae Holoplankton Meroplankton Milky seas effect Paradox of the plankton Planktology Red tide Spring bloom Thin layers More...
By size	Eukaryotic picoplankton Heterotrophic picoplankton Microphyte (microalgae) Nanophytoplankton Photosynthetic picoplankton Picobiliphyte Picoeukaryote Picoplankton
Bacterioplankton	Bacteriastrum Aeromonas salmonicida Cyanobacteria Cyanobiont Cyanotoxin Enteric redmouth disease Flavobacterium Flavobacterium columnare Pelagibacter ubique Marine bacteriophage SAR11 clade Streptococcus iniae
Phytoplankton	Auxospore Axodine Chaetoceros Chaetocerotaceae Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi Eustigmatophyte Frustule Heterokont Nannochloropsis Navicula Prasinophyceae Raphidophyte Thalassiosira pseudonana Diatom orders Centrales Pennales (Classes: Coscinodiscophyceae Fragilariophyceae Bacillariophyceae)
Flagellates	Brevetoxin Choanoflagellates Dinoflagellates Flagellum Pfiesteria piscicida Saxitoxin Symbiodinium Velvet (fish disease)
Zooplankton	Chaetognatha Ciguatera Ctenophora Gelatinous zooplankton Hunting copepods Ichthyoplankton Jellyfish Marine larvae Crustacean larvae Salmon louse Sea louse Copepod orders Calanoida Cyclopoida Harpacticoida Monstrilloida Poecilostomatoida Siphonostomatoida More...
Related topics	Aeroplankton Algaculture Algal mat Algal nutrient solutions Artificial seawater Autotrophs Biological pump Diel vertical migration Dimethylsulfoniopropionate f-ratio Fish diseases and parasites Heterotroph HNLC Macroalgae Manta trawl Marine mucilage Microbial mat Mycoplankton Ocean acidification Primary production Stromatolite Tychoplankton Zoid C-MORE CPR AusCPR MOCNESS SCAR