PLANKTON AS A FACTOR MODIFYING THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE MARINE-ENVIRONMENT

Some hydrophysical environmental parameters (e.g. temperature, salinit y, transparency, flows, etc.) are known to profoundly affect the struc tural and functional characteristics and species composition of plankt on communities. The purpose of the present work was to assess the oppo site - the influence of qualitative and quantitative characteristics o f plankton on some optical (light transmission, optical density) and a coustic (sound volume backscattering strength) characteristics in the Black Sea. The influence of specific features (shape, size and color) of planktonic unicells on light attenuation in seawater was examined i n laboratory experiments. The data from field studies on variability o f statistic characteristics of sound volume backscattering strength in upper productive water layer, depending on species composition and nu mbers of zooplankton, are given.