Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
WHY: "in" the plankton? (and not "part of" the plankton?)
English answer:
Usage depends on intent - use either one, or even "within the plankton"
Added to glossary by
Claire Chapman
Oct 15, 2007 23:59
16 yrs ago
English term
WHY: "in" the plankton? (and not "part of" the plankton?)
English
Science
Environment & Ecology
Looking first at definitions, all are essentially along the lines of plankton as being composed of animals (zooplankton) and plants (phytoplankton) that freely drift in the water.
(See definitions of plankton on the Web via Google)
I have vague memories of terminology that defines iterms/objects as "equal to", "a subset of" , "part of" etc , in other words, expressions that described clear relationships between sets and subsets and items in sets and subsets. (things I don't remember well now)
However, essentially, with this question, I'm bothered by "IN THE PLANKTON", an expression used a lot, as evidenced by the WWW (when I would expect "part of").
So, for example, looking at this issue from a terminological perspective:
"Plants in the plankton are called phytoplankton, and animals in the plankton are called zooplankton. "
I find it difficult to deal with the expression "plants" IN THE plankton, becuase the plants ARE plankton not IN it (ditto the anaimal part). We have a set, with 2 subsets, animals and plants, so the relationship is "plants (or animals) are "part of" the plankton set.
It's an issue that's come up with a colleague who's absolutely right, we DO say (it seems to be the genre) "in the plankton" (where I would feel "part of" was more appropriate, but I'm so confused because of terminological correctness ("is", "is part of", "has parts", etc).
(See definitions of plankton on the Web via Google)
I have vague memories of terminology that defines iterms/objects as "equal to", "a subset of" , "part of" etc , in other words, expressions that described clear relationships between sets and subsets and items in sets and subsets. (things I don't remember well now)
However, essentially, with this question, I'm bothered by "IN THE PLANKTON", an expression used a lot, as evidenced by the WWW (when I would expect "part of").
So, for example, looking at this issue from a terminological perspective:
"Plants in the plankton are called phytoplankton, and animals in the plankton are called zooplankton. "
I find it difficult to deal with the expression "plants" IN THE plankton, becuase the plants ARE plankton not IN it (ditto the anaimal part). We have a set, with 2 subsets, animals and plants, so the relationship is "plants (or animals) are "part of" the plankton set.
It's an issue that's come up with a colleague who's absolutely right, we DO say (it seems to be the genre) "in the plankton" (where I would feel "part of" was more appropriate, but I'm so confused because of terminological correctness ("is", "is part of", "has parts", etc).
Change log
Oct 29, 2007 11:27: Claire Chapman Created KOG entry
Responses
+3
4 hrs
Claire Chapman
Native in English
&
English
All things textile
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, English to French, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
Usage depends on intent - use either one, or even "within the plankton"
Just as plankton is made up of individuals, so is a herd of elephants made up of individuals. A baby elephant can be in the herd, within the herd, or a part of the herd. In any case, that baby elephant is a member of the herd. Which preposition that we choose in English can depend on the emphasis on membership or location that the writer or speaker is trying to convey. If the baby elephant is in the herd, we expect that the actual physical location of the baby to be with the other members of the herd of elephants. If we say that the baby is within the herd, he might be surrounded by the other members of the herd. If we say that the baby is a part of the herd, we are saying that he is a member of that herd. However, he may not be physically with them. He could be at the vet's office, but he is still a part of the herd.
So, individual plants and animals that are part of (the) plankton can be located in (the) plankton, or they can be located within (the) plankton, or they could be in a bucket of water. :-)
Bear in mind, however, that some people do not speak precisely, so sometimes you will need to look at the entire context to see what, if any, emphasis is being placed by the choice of preposition.
plank·ton –noun
the aggregate of passively floating, drifting, or somewhat motile organisms occurring in a body of water, primarily comprising microscopic algae and protozoa.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=plankton
Plankton - Conservapedia
... mass noun; ***the term for an individual organism **within the plankton** is a plankter.*** ... Plankton live in both salt and fresh water. ...
www.conservapedia.com/Plankton
Greenwich Bay
Most plankton are microscopic, but not all. ... fish and benthic (bottom-dwelling) animals are part of the plankton community. ...
seagrant.gso.uri.edu/G_Bay/HabitatEco/Ecosystem/zooplankton.html
Plankton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a description of life-style rather than a genetic classification. ... Within the plankton, itself, holoplankton are those organisms that spend their ...
Quick Links: Definitions - Functional groups - Size groups
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton
So, individual plants and animals that are part of (the) plankton can be located in (the) plankton, or they can be located within (the) plankton, or they could be in a bucket of water. :-)
Bear in mind, however, that some people do not speak precisely, so sometimes you will need to look at the entire context to see what, if any, emphasis is being placed by the choice of preposition.
plank·ton –noun
the aggregate of passively floating, drifting, or somewhat motile organisms occurring in a body of water, primarily comprising microscopic algae and protozoa.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=plankton
Plankton - Conservapedia
... mass noun; ***the term for an individual organism **within the plankton** is a plankter.*** ... Plankton live in both salt and fresh water. ...
www.conservapedia.com/Plankton
Greenwich Bay
Most plankton are microscopic, but not all. ... fish and benthic (bottom-dwelling) animals are part of the plankton community. ...
seagrant.gso.uri.edu/G_Bay/HabitatEco/Ecosystem/zooplankton.html
Plankton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a description of life-style rather than a genetic classification. ... Within the plankton, itself, holoplankton are those organisms that spend their ...
Quick Links: Definitions - Functional groups - Size groups
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Rachel Fell
: plants that constitute part of the plankton, animals that con.... cf. people in the crowd
8 hrs
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Thank you, Rachel :-)
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| agree |
V_Nedkov
: plankton is a group of organisms ( bacterias, plants, animals, etc), each one of them can be part of the group or in the the group
9 hrs
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Thank you, V. Nedkova :-)
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| agree |
Bernhard Sulzer
: in "plants or animals in plankton" plankton is understood as a mass, a community of individual organisms. Often, we first think of plankton as this mass on which whales "graze." We could ask - what's in the plankton, what does it consist of?
18 hrs
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Thank you, Berhard :-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
1 hr
orientalhorizon
Works in field
Banking,law,commerce,engineering
Native in: Chinese
Works in: English to Chinese, Chinese to English, English, and 1 more.
in = part of
"the plankton" here is a category, and within this category there exist subcategories, of which zooplankton is one, and phytoplankton the other. The subcategories ARE "IN" the category and of course parts of it.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
rchan
: "the plankton" is probably a short way of saying "the plankton genus" or whichever catagory.
4 hrs
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thanks a lot!
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Discussion
My whole point is the plants are NOT IN something but an integral PART OF something.