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Growth rate influence on the chemical composition of phytoplankton in oceanic waters

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Abstract

The chemical composition of oceanic phytoplankton (by atoms) typically occurs in the proportions C106 N16 P1. Yet, in laboratory growth conditions these proportions are only observed for marine phytoplankton at high growth rates when non-nutrient limitation is approached. Thus growth rates of natural phytoplankton populations in oceanic waters may be near maximal and hence non-nutrient limited. The uniformly low biomass and residual nutrient levels in such waters does not preclude the possibility of high growth rates because Zooplankton grazing and nutrient regeneration within the euphotic zone may keep this highly dynamic system in a balanced state.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543

    Joel C. Goldman & Dwight G. Peavey

  2. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

    James J. McCarthy

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  1. Joel C. Goldman
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  2. James J. McCarthy
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  3. Dwight G. Peavey
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Goldman, J., McCarthy, J. & Peavey, D. Growth rate influence on the chemical composition of phytoplankton in oceanic waters. Nature 279, 210–215 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279210a0

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