Abstract
Phytoplankton settling has received considerable attention in the oceanographic literature because of its effect on both the vertical distribution of phytoplankton biomass and the carbon budget of the photic zone. Little is known of sinking rates of phytoplankton in nature, because most estimation methods used to date either cannot be employed with heterogeneous populations, or lack the sensitivity needed to deal with the low concentrations of cells in natural waters. Data from laboratory studies may not represent the sinking rates of heterogeneous assemblages in nature. Recently, a method of measuring sinking rates suitable for analyzing natural assemblages was developed (Rothwell and Bienfang 1978, Bienfang 1979). This method was employed on mixed phytoplankton assemblages in the Controlled Experimental Ecosystems (CEEs described by Grice and Reeve, Chapter 1) of CEPEX (Controlled Ecosystem Populations Experiment) at Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, Canada.
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Bienfang, P.K. (1982). Phytoplankton Sinking-Rate Dynamics in Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems. In: Grice, G.D., Reeve, M.R. (eds) Marine Mesocosms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5645-8_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5645-8_20
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