The effect of environmental factors on phytoplankton growth: Light and the interactions of light with nitrate limitation1
Year: 1981
Type: article
Abstract: The effects of simultaneous limitations of light and nutrient on growth were investigated with turbidostat and chemostat cultures of Scenedesmus sp. and Fragilaria crotonensis. The combined effects were greater than the sum of individual effects and were not multiplicative. Under nitrate‐limited conditions the cell quota of the limiting nutrient for a constant growth rate and the subsistance quota (qo) increased as irradiance decreased. Within a certain limit of growth rates, light and qN can compensate for each other in maintaining growth rate. Under nutrient‐sufficient conditions, cell quotas of C, N, and P, and cellular chlorophyll a concentration increased as light decreased below saturation. The cell quotas are the maximum level (qm) that can be achieved at a given irradiance. Cell quotas of nonlimiting nutrients in nutrient‐limited cultures are the same as these qm values. The increasing levels of qm and qo with decreasing irradiance indicate that nutrient requirements increase as irradiance decreases.
Source: Limnology and Oceanography
Authors: G-‐ull Rhee, Ivan J. Gotham
Institution: New York State Department of Health
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2135561196