Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:50:37.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Redfield Ratio and Phytoplankton Growth Rate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P. Tett ,
M. R. Droop  and
S. I. Heaney
P. Tett
Affiliation:
Scottish Marine Biological Association, Dunstaffhage Marine Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 3, Oban, Argyll PA34 4AD
M. R. Droop
Affiliation:
Scottish Marine Biological Association, Dunstaffhage Marine Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 3, Oban, Argyll PA34 4AD
S. I. Heaney
Affiliation:
Freshwater Biological Association, The Ferry House, Ambleside, Cumbria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Goldman, McCarthy & Peavey (1979b) argued that growth rates of phyto-plankton in apparently oligotrophic ocean waters may near maximal. Their hypothesis was succinctly restated by Goldman (1980): ‘…the chemical composition of phytoplankton is extremely variable under exacting laboratory conditions of nutrient limitation and approaches the ‘Redfield’ proportions (C:N:P of 106:16:1) when neither nitrogen nor phosphorus is limiting so that near maximal growth rates are attained. In marine surface waters the chemical composition of particular matter often is in the Redfield proportions, thus implying that natural phytoplankton growth rates may be close to maximal.’ We argue on theoretical, experimental and observational grounds that this implication may not necessarily be correct.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , May 1985 , pp. 487 - 504
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antia, N. J., Mcallister, C. D.Parsons, T. R., Stephens, K. & Strickland, J. D. H., 1963. Further measurements of primary production using a large-volume plastic sphere. Limnology and Oceanography, 8, 166–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banse, K., 1974. On the interpretation of data for the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography, 19, 695–699.Google Scholar
Banse, K., 1977. Determining the carbon: chlorophyll ratio of natural phytoplankton. Marine Biology, 41, 199–213.Google Scholar
Caperon, J., 1968. Population growth response of Isochrysis galbana to nitrate variation at limiting concentration. Ecology, 49, 866–872.Google Scholar
Caperon, J. & Meyer, J., 1972. Nitrogen-limited growth of marine phytoplankton. I. Changes in population characteristics with steady-state growth rate. Deep-Sea Research, 19, 601–618.Google Scholar
Corner, E. D. S. & Davies, A. G., 1971. Plankton as a factor in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in the sea. Advances in Marine Biology, 9, 101–204.Google Scholar
Downes, M. T., 1978. An improved hydrazine reduction method for the automated determination of low nitrate levels in freshwater. Water Research, 12, 673–675.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1968. Vitamin B12 and marine ecology. IV. The kinetics of uptake, growth and inhibition in Monochrysis lutheri. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 48, 689–733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1973. Some thoughts on nutrient limitation in algae. Journal of Phycology, 9, 264–272.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1974. The nutrient status of algal cells in continuous culture. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 54, 825–855.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1975. The nutrient status of algal cells in batch culture. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 55, 541—555.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1977. An approach to quantitative nutrition of phytoplankton. Journal of Protozoology, 24, 528–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1979. On the definition of x and of Q in the Cell Quota model. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 39, 203.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., 1983. 25 years of algal growth kinetics. Botanica marina, 26, 99–112.Google Scholar
Droop, M. R., Mickelson, M. J., Scott, J. M. & Turner, M. F., 1982. Light and nutrient status of algal cells. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 62, 403–434.Google Scholar
Dugdale, R. C., 1967. Nutrient limitation in the sea: dynamics, identification and significance. Limnology and Oceanography, 12, 685—695.Google Scholar
Eppley, R. W., 1972. Temperature and phytoplankton growth in the sea. Fishery Bulletin. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, 70, 1063–1085.Google Scholar
Eppley, R. W., Renger, E. H., Venrick, E. K. & Mullin, M. M., 1973. A study of plankton dynamics and nutrient cycling in the central gyre of the North Pacific Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography, 18, 534–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eppley, R. W. & Strickland, J. D. H., 1968. Kinetics of phytoplankton growth. Advances in Microbiology of the Sea, 1, 23–62.Google Scholar
Fleming, R. H., 1940. Composition of plankton and units for reporting populations and production. Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Science Congress, 3, 535–540.Google Scholar
Foy, R. H., 1980. The influence of surface to volume ratio on the growth rates of planktonic blue-green algae. British Phycological Journal, 15, 279–289.Google Scholar
Goldman, J. C, 1980. Physiological processes, nutrient availability, and the concept of relative growth rate in marine phytoplankton ecology. In Primary Productivity in the Sea (ed. Falkowski, P. G.), pp. 179–194. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldman, J. C., Mccarthy, J. J. & Peavey, D. G., 1979. Growth rate influence on the chemical composition of phytoplankton in oceanic waters. Nature, London, 279, 210–215.Google Scholar
Goldman, J. C. & Peavey, D. G., 1979. Steady-state growth and chemical composition of the marine chlorophyte Dunaliella tertiolecta in nitrogen-limited continuous cultures. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 38, 894–901.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gorham, P. R., Mclachlan, J., Hammer, U. T. & Kim, W. K., 1964. Isolation and culture of toxic strains of Anabaenaflos-aquae (Lyngb.) de Breb. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur theoretische und angewandte Limnologie, 15, 796–804.Google Scholar
Gowen, R. J., 1981. The Primary Stages of Chlorophyll-a Breakdown in Sea-loch Phytoplankton and Cultured Algae. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Strathclyde.Google Scholar
Gowen, R. J., Tett, P. & Wood, B. J. B., 1983. Changes in the major dihydroporphyrin plankton pigments during the spring bloom of phytoplankton in two Scottish sea-lochs. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 63, 27–36.Google Scholar
Gupta, R. Sen, Sankaranayaranan, V. N., De Sousa, S. N. & Fondekar, S. P., 1976. Chemical oceanography of the Arabian Sea. Part III. Studies on nutrient fraction and stochiometric relationships in the northern and eastern basins. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences 5, 58–71.Google Scholar
Haug, A., Myklestad, S. & Sakshaug, E., 1973. Studies on the phytoplankton ecology of the Trondheimsfjord. I. The chemical composition of phytoplankton populations. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 11, 15–26.Google Scholar
Healey, F. P., 1975. Physiological indicators of nutrient deficiency in algae. Technical Report. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 585, 30 pp.Google Scholar
Hilton, J. & Rigg, E., 1983. Determination of nitrate in lake water by the adaption of the hydrazine-copper reduction method for use on a discrete analyser: performance statistics and an instrument-induced difference from segmented flow conditions. Analyst, 108, 1026–1028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerlov, N. G., 1968. Optical Oceanography. 194 pp. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Jones, K. J., Tett, P., Wallis, A. C. & Wood, B. J. B., 1978 a. The use of small, continuous and multispecies cultures to investigate the ecology of phytoplankton in a Scottish sea-loch. Mitteilungen der Internationalen Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie, 21, 398–412.Google Scholar
Jones, K. J., Tett, P., Wallis, A. C. & Woood, B. J. B., 1978 b, Investigation of a nutrient-growth model using a continuous culture of natural phytoplankton. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 58, 923–941.Google Scholar
Ketchum, B. H., 1939. The absorption of phosphate and nitrate by illuminated cultures of Nitzschia dosterium. American Journal of Botany, 26, 399–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ketchum, B. H., 1947. The biochemical relations between marine organisms and their environment. Ecological Monographs, 17, 309–315.Google Scholar
Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. & Randall, R. J., 1951. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 193, 265–275.Google Scholar
Lund, J. W. G., 1949. Studies on Asterionella. I. The origin and nature of the cells producing seasonal maxima. Journal of Ecology, 37, 389–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lund, J. W. G., 1964. Primary production and periodicity of phytoplankton. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung für theoretische und angewandte Limnologie, 15, 37–56.Google Scholar
Lund, J. W. G., Kipling, C. & Le Cren, E. D., 1958. The inverted microscope method of estimating algal numbers and the statistical basis of estimations by counting. Hydrobiologia, 11, 143–170.Google Scholar
Mcallister, C. D., Parsons, T. R., Stephens, K. & Strickland, J. D. H., 1961. Measurements of primary production in coastal sea water using a large volume plastic sphere. Limnology and Oceanography, 6, 237–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcallister, C. D., Parsons, T. R. & Strickland, J. D. H., 1960. Primary production at station ‘P’ in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Journal du Conseil, 25, 240–259.Google Scholar
Mackereth, F. J. H., 1953. Phosphorus utilization by Aterionella formosa Hass. Journal of Experimental Botany, 4, 296–313.Google Scholar
Mackareth, F. J. H., 1964. An improved galvanic cell for determination of oxygen concentrations in fluids. Journal of Scientific Instruments, 41, 38–41.Google Scholar
Mackareth, F. J. H., Heron, J. & Talling, J. F., 1978. Water analysis: some revised methods for limnologists. Scientific Publications. Freshwater Biological Association, no. 36, 120 pp.Google Scholar
Maske, H., 1982. Ammonium-limited continuous cultures of Skeletonema costatum in steady and transitional state: experimental results and model simulations. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 62, 919–943.Google Scholar
Monod, J. 1942. Recherche sur la Croissance des Cultures Bacteriennes. 211 pp. Paris: Herman etCie.Google Scholar
Olson, S. C. W., 1950. Quantitative estimates of filiamentous algae. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 59, 272–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panikov, N., 1979. Steady-state growth kinetics of Chlorella vulgaris under double substrate (urea and phosphate) limitation. Journal of Chemical Technology, 29, 442—450.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. R. & Lebrasseur, R. J., 1970. The availability of food to different trophic levels in the marine food chain. In Marine Food Chains (ed. Steele, J. H.), pp. 325–343. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.Google Scholar
Parsons, T. R., Stevens, K. & Strickland, J. D. H., 1961. On the chemical composition of eleven species of marine phytoplankters. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 18, 1001–1016.Google Scholar
Perry, M. J., 1976. Phosphate utilization by an oceanic diatom in phosphorus-limited chemostat culture and in the oligotrophic waters of the central North Pacific. Limnology and Oceanography, 21, 88–107.Google Scholar
Redfield, A. C, 1934. On the proportions of organic derivatives in sea water and their relation to the composition of plankton. In James Johnstone Memorial Volume, pp. 176–192. Liverpool University Press.Google Scholar
Redfield, A. C, 1958. The biological control of chemical factors in the environment. American Scientist, 46, 205–221.Google Scholar
Rhee, G.-Y., 1974. Phosphate uptake under nitrogen limitation by Scenedesmus and its ecological implications. Journal of Phycology, 10, 470–475.Google Scholar
Sakshaug, E., Andresen, K., Myklestad, S. & Olsen, O., 1983. Nutrient status of phytoplankton communities in Norwegian water (marine, brackish and fresh) as revealed by their chemical composition. Journal of Plankton Research, 5, 175—196.Google Scholar
Scott, J. M., 1980. Effect of growth rate of the food alga on the growth/ingestion efficiency of a marine herbivore. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 60, 681–702.Google Scholar
Scott, J. M. & Marlow, J. A., 1982. A microcalorimeter with a range of 01–10 calories. Limnology and Oceanography, 27, 585–590.Google Scholar
Serruya, C. & Berman, T., 1975. Phosphorus, nitrogen and the growth of algae in Lake Kinneret. Journal of Phycology, 11, 155–162.Google Scholar
Steele, J. H.J 1962. Environmental control of photosynthesis in the sea. Limnology and Oceanography, 7, 137–150.Google Scholar
Steele, J. H. & Baird, I. E., 1962. Further relations between primary production, chlorophyll and paniculate carbon. Limnology and Oceanography, 7, 42–47.Google Scholar
Strickland, J. D. H., 1960. Measuring the production of marine phytoplankton. Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 122, 172 pp.Google Scholar
Strickland, J. D. H., Holm-Hansen, O., Eppley, R. W. & Linn, R. J., 1969. The use of a deep tank in a plankton ecology. I. Studies on the growth and composition of phytoplankton crops in low nutrient levels. Limnology and Oceanography, 14, 23–34.Google Scholar
Strickland, J. D. H. & Parsons, T. R., 1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis, 2nd ed. Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 167, 310 pp.Google Scholar
Sverdrup, H. U., 1953. On conditions for the vernal blooming of phytoplankton. Journal du Conseil, 18, 287–295.Google Scholar
Talling, J. F., 1974. Photosynthetic pigments. General outline of spectrophotometric methods; specific procedures. In A Manual on Methods for Measuring Primary Productivity in Aquatic Environments, 2nd ed. (ed. Vollenweider, R. A.), pp. 22—26. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Tett, P. B., 1973. The use of log-normal statistics to describe phytoplankton populations from the Firth of Lome area. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 11, 121–136.Google Scholar
Tett, P., 1981. Modelling phytoplankton production at shelf-sea fronts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (A), 302, 605–615.Google Scholar
Tett, P., Cottrell, J. C, Trew, D. O. & Wood, B. J. B., 1975. Phosphorus quota and the chlorophyll: carbon ratio in marine phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography, 20, 587–603.Google Scholar
Tett, P., Drysdale, M. & Shaw, J., 1981. Phytoplankton in Loch Creran during 1979 and its effect on the rearing of oyster larvae. Internal Report. Scottish Marine Biological Association, no. 52, 77 pp.Google Scholar
Tett, P. & Wallis, A. C, 1978. The general annual cycle of chlorophyll standing crop in Loch Creran. Journal of Ecology, 66, 227—239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, I. D., 1983. A Carbon Budget for Creran, a Scottish Sea Loch. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Strathclyde.Google Scholar
Wynne, D., Patni, N. J., Aaronson, S. & Berman, T., 1982. The relationship between nutrient status and chemical composition of Peridinium cinctum during the bloom in Lake Kinneret. Journal of Plankton Research, 4, 125–136.Google Scholar
Zevenboom, W., De Vaate, A. B. & Mur, L. R., 1982. Assessment of factors limiting growth rate of Oscillatoria agardhii in hypereutrophic Lake Wolderwijd, 1978, by the use of physiological indicators. Limnology and Oceanography, 27, 39–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar