Pandoravirus sediments. Pandoraviruses, like other marine viruses, prey on plankton, which are organisms that live in the water column and form the basis of the food chain for other marine species. More study and research needs to be done in order to confirm the prevalence of Pandoraviruses in different environments. Currently, not much is known about their role in marine ecosystems. Pandoraviruses do have approximately 93% of their genes that are unidentifiable with any other microbes, suggesting they may belong to an as of yet undescribed "fourth domain" aside from Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes. Viruses as a whole are not popularly
Forensic limnology water conducting tissues, which affects their dispersion throughout ecosystems. These microscopic organisms mainly inhabit freshwater environments because of their inability to survive with the cleaning agents present in domestic water sources. Diatoms are identifiable based on each species unique silica cell walls and vary depending on their environment. Because they have determinant properties diatoms create flora profiles for scientists. When these microscopic algae die, their frustules (silica cell walls) becomes a part of the water sediment. The presence of the frustules enables scientists to compare the cell walls of the deceased organisms with the living diatoms to determine characteristics of