Unlike prokaryotes, which do not leave a fossil trail, the patterns of change over evolutionary time of eukaryotic phytoplankton can be derived from microfossils. Here, Paul Falkowski and Matthew Oliver use the fossil record, resource competition theory and the physical principles of ocean dynamics to propose how climate might have affected phytoplankton populations in the past, and make predictions for the future.
- Paul G. Falkowski
- Matthew J. Oliver