Size related processes in phytoplankton

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 allo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sandow, Marcel
Other Authors: Sommer, Ulrich, Oschlies, A.
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:8-diss-12030
https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/diss_mods_00001203
https://macau.uni-kiel.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dissertation_derivate_00001203/d1203.pdf
Description
Summary: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.