Size related processes in phytoplankton

• Main Author: Sandow, Marcel
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6750/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/6750/1/639_Sandow_2004_SizeRelatedProcessesInPhytoplankton_Hschri_pubid6105.pdf; http://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/dissertation_diss_00001203

Growth, death, respiration, excretion and sedimentation describe the major rate processes of phytoplankton. These rates often scale allometrically (rate=a*mass^b). The allometric coefficient (b) describes the deviation from a linear reltionship. Literature values derived from experiments showed allometric coefficients of -0.48 to -0.1. Experiments with natural phytoplankton communities from the baltic and the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic ocean showed an allometric coeffcient range of -0.72 to -0.3. The results indicate that size scaling of rate processes in phytoplankton is more pronounced than previously thought.