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Inhibition of carbon fixation as a function of zinc uptake in natural phytoplankton assemblages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Anthony G. Davies
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth
Jillian A. Sleep
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth

Extract

There is now a substantial body of evidence that the growth rates of phytoplankton in culture are more closely related to the cellular levels of the rate-limiting constituent, be it a nutrient, micronutrient or toxic metal, than to the concentrations in the supporting medium; nitrate, Caperon (1968); phosphate, Fuhs (1969); silicate, Paasche (1973); vitamin B12, Droop (1968); iron, Davies (1970); mercury, Davies (1974); cadmium, Davies (1978a). This has suggested the requirement for a technique which would allow the determination of comparable relationships for natural populations of phytoplankton - how, for instance, their carbon fixation rates depend upon the metal contents of the plant cells. Although the effects of metals upon carbon fixation in phytoplankton assemblages from several different sea areas have already been examined (Knauer & Martin, 1972; Patin et al. 1974; Zingmark & Miller, 1975; Ibragim & Patin, 1976) no data seem to have been obtained on the levels of the metals present in the phytoplankton at the time of the measurements.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

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