Clearance of bacteria-sized particles by natural populations of nanoplankton in the Chesapeake Bay outflow plume

Abstract

The uptake of bacteria-sized particles by non-pigmented nanoplankton was measured in late winter (February) and spring (June) in the Chesapeake Bay outflow plume. Small flagellates numerically dominated the grazer community in both seasons, although experiments in June showed that ciliates could also be important bacterivores. Rates of ingestion ranged from 1.8 to 25.0 bacteria/flagellate/h and were significantly correlated with bacterial abundance.