Introduction to Marine Biology 3rd Edition by George Karleskint, Richard Turner, James Small

Exercise 10

Life in the open sea is limited mainly by the low concentrations of nutrients, which keep primary production low. In addition, viral lysis of bacterioplankton slows the recycling of dissolved organic matter and the passage of production up the food web. Despite the high efficiency of trophic transfer, the nearly complete daily conversion of new biomass of primary producers to consumer levels keeps the standing crops of phytoplankton small.