Primary Production is food for the animals in the Bay. Microscopic algae are food for microscopic animal plankton. Small fish and animals are eaten by larger and larger fish, by birds, or by humans. Click on the image above to see a larger version Primary Production controls fisheries yield.
Scientists measure primary production and the amount of animals in a system in terms of carbon.
The capacity of aquatic systems like estuaries to sustain animal populations is set, in part, by the rate phytoplankton produce new plant matter.