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The microbial loop is simply a model of the pathways of carbon and nutrient cycling through microbial components of pelagic aquatic communities.
The microbial loop describes a trophic pathway where, in aquatic systems, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is returned to higher trophic levels via its incorporation into bacterial biomass, and then coupled with the classic food chain formed by phytoplankton-zooplankton-nekton.