Contrasting Patterns of Net- and Nanoplankton Production and Biomass among Lakes

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 915-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Watson ◽  
Edward McCauley

The relative contribution of nanoplankton to total algal biomass was shown to be negatively correlated with total phosphorus during summer over a wide range of lakes. We hypothesize that this pattern can be explained either by changes in the relative growth rates of net- or nanoplankton with increased nutrient levels, or through the regulation of the nanoplankton biomass by herbivores, allowing disproportionate increases in netplankton biomass in more eutrophic systems. These explanations were tested by examining the relationships between net primary production (grams of carbon per cubic metre per year) and biomass (micrograms per litre) of these size fractions and total phosphorus concentrations (micrograms per litre) using literature data from lakes through-out the world. The production of the net- and nanoplankton vary similarly with total phosphorus, while the biomasses (and thus the ratios of production to biomass) of the two groups show significantly different relationships. Our results support the hypothesis that changes in the size distribution of summer phytoplankton with enrichment seem to be influenced more by herbivores than by changes in the relative growth rates of the two size fractions.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6915-6925 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Daniels ◽  
R. M. Sheward ◽  
A. J. Poulton

Abstract. Coccolithophores, a diverse group of phytoplankton, make important contributions to pelagic calcite production and export, yet the comparative biogeochemical role of species other than the ubiquitous Emiliania huxleyi is poorly understood. The contribution of different coccolithophore species to total calcite production is controlled by inter-species differences in cellular calcite, growth rate and relative abundance within a mixed community. In this study we examined the relative importance of E. huxleyi and two Coccolithus species in terms of daily calcite production. Culture experiments compared growth rates and cellular calcite content of E. huxleyi (Arctic and temperate strains), Coccolithus pelagicus (novel Arctic strain) and Coccolithus braarudii (temperate strain). Despite assumptions that E. huxleyi is a fast-growing species, growth rates between the three species were broadly comparable (0.16–0.85 d−1) under identical temperature and light conditions. Emiliania huxleyi grew only 12% faster on average than C. pelagicus, and 28% faster than C. braarudii. As the cellular calcite content of C. pelagicus and C. braarudii is typically 30–80 times greater than E. huxleyi, comparable growth rates suggest that Coccolithus species have the potential to be major calcite producers in mixed populations. To further explore these results we devised a simplistic model comparing daily calcite production from Coccolithus and E. huxleyi across a realistic range of relative abundances and a wide range of relative growth rates. Using the relative differences in growth rates from our culture studies, we found that C. pelagicus would be a larger source of calcite if abundances of E. huxleyi to C. pelagicus were below 34:1. Relative abundance data collected from North Atlantic field samples (spring and summer 2010) suggest that, with a relative growth rate of 88%, C. pelagicus dominated calcite production at 69% of the sites sampled. With a more extreme difference in growth rates, where C. pelagicus grows at 1/10th of the rate of E. huxleyi, C. pelagicus still dominated calcite production in 14% of the field. These results demonstrate the necessity of considering interactions between inter-species differences in growth rates, cellular calcite and relative abundances when evaluating the contribution of different coccolithophores to pelagic calcite production. In the case of C. pelagicus, we find that there is strong potential for this species to make major contributions to calcite production in the North Atlantic, although estimates of relative growth rates from the field are needed to confirm our conclusions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1556-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thimmappa S. Anekonda ◽  
Richard S. Criddle ◽  
Lee D. Hansen ◽  
Mike Bacca

Seventeen Eucalyptus species and 30 rapid-growing Eucalyptuscamaldulensis trees (referred to as plus trees), growing in a plantation were studied to examine relationships among measured plant growth and respiratory parameters, geographical origins, and growth climate. The respiratory parameters measured at two different temperatures by isothermal calorimetry were metabolic heat rate, rate of CO2 production, and the ratio of heat rate to CO2 rate. Metabolic heat rate was also measured as a continuous function of temperature by differential scanning calorimetry in the range of 10 to 40 °C. Tree growth was measured as rates of height and stem volume growth. The values of respiratory and growth variables of Eucalyptus species are significantly correlated with latitude and altitude of origin of their seed sources. The maximum metabolic heat rate, the temperature of the maximum heat rate, the temperature coefficients of metabolic rate, and the temperatures at which the slopes of Arrhenius plots change are all genetically determined parameters that vary both within and among species. Measurement of growth rate–respiration rate–temperature relationships guide understanding of why relative growth rates of Eucalyptus species and individual genotypes differ with climate, making it possible to identify genotypes best suited for rapid growth in different climates. The temperature dependence of respiration rates is an important factor determining relative growth rates of eucalypts in different climates. To achieve optimum biomass production the temperature dependence of individual plants must be matched to growth climate.


1967 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Jackson

Growth analysis of cotton crops sown in the Sudan Gezira at monthly intervals between August and May revealed a marked seasonal pattern of growth. Irrespective of plant age and fruiting state growth of non-senescent plants was slowest during the cool winter months. Relative growth rates of young plants were highest in August, September and early October due to the high specific leaf areas and fairly high net assimilation rates found then. They were lowest when minimum temperatures were lowest. Net assimilation rates were also lowest in the coolest months, probably as a result of restricted growth. High temperatures in the spring reduced fruiting. It is concluded that low minimum temperatures and high evaporation rates are both associated with slow growth, and play a large part in determining the characteristic decline of growth rates of cotton sown at the usual date in August.I wish to thank the Chief of the Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Sudan, for permission to publish this paper and to record my gratitude to the team of field and laboratory assistants, especially Salih Saad and Hassan Osman, who helped in the work.


1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 293 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Eagling ◽  
RJ Sward ◽  
GM Halloran

Measurements were made on the effect of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) infection on the early growth of four commercial cultivars of ryegrass (Lolium spp.) under two different temperatures (24�C and 16�C). At 24'C, BYDV infection was associated with reduced root dry weight (30-40%) in all cultivars; the effect of infection on shoot dry weight and leaf area was variable. At 16�C, the effect of BYDV infection was variable, being associated with increases in root dry weight, shoot dry weight, and leaf area in one cultivar (Grasslands Ariki) and decreases in another (Victorian). In two other cultivars, root dry weight, shoot dry weight and leaf area were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by infection with BYDV.At 24�C, the reductions in root dry weight associated with BYDV infection were not concomitant with reductions in the root relative growth rates. Up to at least 28 days after inoculation (46-50 days after germination) reductions in root dry weight were associated with both aphid-feeding damage and virus infection. Experiments with the cultivar Victorian, showed that shoot dry weight was not significantly affected (P>0.05) by feeding with viruliferous (BYDV) or non-viruliferous aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi L.). At 16�C, changes in root and shoot dry weight were associated with changes in the root and shoot relative growth rates.


1930 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
M. A. TAZELAAR

Linear measurements of certain appendages and the carapace of P. carcinus were made and plotted in various ways. The following conclusions were drawn: 1. The cheliped shows heterogonic growth in both male and female, but more markedly in the male, the values of k being: male 1.8 and female 1.48 2. The pereiopods in both male and female are slightly heterogonic. The relative growth rates are graded from p3 to p5, that of p3 being slightly greater than that of p5 3. Of the ordinary pereiopods the rate of growth of p1 is the smallest in the male, but the largest in the female. 4. The difference between the rates of growth of p1 and p3 in male and female is greatest where the rate of growth in the heterogonic organ, the cheliped, is most excessive in the male. 5. The growth of the 3rd maxilliped is slightly negatively heterogonic, the value of k in the male being 0.93 and in the female 0.95. Hence there seems to be a correlation between the marked heterogony in the cheliped on the growth rate of neighbouring appendages. In those immediately posterior to the cheliped the growth rate is increased and in those anterior decreased.


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