| Summary: | Current allometric relationships lack data for phytoplankton grown under polar temperatures (e.g., <8°C). This data set examines whether allometric relationships for polar diatoms, an ecologically and biogeochemically important phytoplankton group in polar ecosystems, is similar to their low-latitude counterparts. 11 strains of diatoms isolated from polar waters (both Arctic and Antarctic) were grown in the laboratory to quantify cellular carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), silica (Si), cell number and biovolume during mid-exponential and early stationary growth phases. These same parameters were also quantified for clones grown under N and light limitation but constant temperature and photoperiod. A clear allometric log-log relationship was observed between cell quotas and biovolume with resulting regression slopes (excluded one outlier species) that were more similar to published values (low latitude clones) for each element. However, diatoms grown at polar temperatures have a much higher cell quota per unit cell volume (i.e., element density).
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