The study looked at how different types of organisms in the ocean off the coast of Chile interact with each other in a food web. They found that including both small microbes and larger organisms in the food web increased the efficiency of energy transfer and the total amount of energy flowing through the system. This is because the microbes help recycle materials and energy, creating more connections between different levels of the food web. Excluding the microbes could disrupt the balance of the ecosystem, especially for small planktonic organisms that rely on them for food. Overall, both the traditional and microbial food webs are important for supporting life in the ocean, and understanding these connections is crucial for managing marine ecosystems.