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Nature 398, 293-294 (25 March 1999) | doi:10.1038/18570

Oceanography:  Phytoplankton death in the sea

David L. Kirchman1

It used to be easy to understand how marine phytoplankton are killed off. Grazing by zooplankton and irreversible sinking into the deep ocean were thought to balance phytoplankton growth, except at the beginning of spring blooms when biomass greatly increases.