Abstract
Using an oxygen polarographic electrode, the shapes of photosynthetic curves and the effects of light on dark respiration in 6 species of marine phytoplankton wer examined. The species used were Skeletonema costatum, Ditylum brightwellii, Cyclotella nana (Thalassiosira pseudonana) (all Bacillariophyceae), Dunaliella tertiolecta (Chlorophyceae), Isochrysis galbana (Haptophyceae), and Gonyaulax tamarensis (Dinophyceae). A hysteresis was observed in all species examined with respect to increasing and decreasing light. Compensation light intensities varied by over 4 orders of magnitude, suggesting that the 1% light depth is an ambiguous measure of the euphotic zone. The data suggest that dark respiration accounts for ca. 25% of gross photosynthesis, but is species-dependent. In addition, respiration versus cell size does not describe an inverse exponential function over the size scales examined.
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Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark
This research was performed under the auspices of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration under Contract No. EY-76-C-02-0016.
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Falkowski, P.G., Owens, T.G. Effects of light intensity on photosynthesis and dark respiration in six species of marine phytoplankton. Mar. Biol. 45, 289–295 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391815
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391815