Excretion of photosynthetically fixed organic carbon by metalimnetic phytoplankton

Abstract

The effects of light intensity, oxygen concentration, and pH on the rates of photosynthesis and net excretion by metalimnetic phytoplankton populations of Little Crooked Lake, Indiana, were studied. Photosynthetic rates increased from 1.42 to 3.14 mg C·mg⁻¹ chlorophylla·hour⁻¹ within a range of light intensities from 65 to 150μE·m⁻²·sec⁻¹, whereas net excretion remained constant at 0.05 mg C·mg⁻¹ chlorophylla·hour⁻¹. Bacteria assimilated approximately 50% of the carbon released by the phytoplankton under these conditions. Excreted carbon (organic compounds either assimilated by bacteria or dissolved in the lake water) was produced by phytoplankton at rates of 0.02–0.15 mg C·mg⁻¹ chlorophylla·hour⁻¹. These rates were 6%–13% of the photosynthetic rates of the phytoplankton. Both total excretion of carbon and bacterial assimilation of excreted carbon increased at high light intensities whereas net excretion remained fairly constant. Elevated oxygen concentrations in samples incubated at 150μE· m⁻²·sec⁻¹ decreased rates of both photosynthesis and net excretion. The photosynthetic rate increased from 3.0 to 5.0 mg C·mg⁻¹ chlorophylla· hour⁻¹ as the pH was raised from 7.5 to 8.8. Net excretion within this range decreased slightly. Calculation of total primary production using a numerical model showed that whereas 225.8 g C·m⁻² was photosynthetically fixed between 12 May and 24 August 1982, a maximum of about 9.3 g C·m⁻² was released extracellularly.