Phasing of autotrophic and heterotrophic plankton metabolism in a temperate coastal ecosystem

Abstract

Plankton abundances, bacterial production, and the size distribution of oxygen metabolism and chlorophyll a concentration were determined through three seasonal cycles in the Menai Strait (North Wales, UK). The phasing of respiration in relation to photosynthesis was strongly influenced by bacterioplankton metabolism and abundance changes. The respiration maximum occurred one to two wk after the Phaeocystis abundance maximum. An explanation for this temporal lag was sought by considering the time scales of flow of organic material between the phytoplankton and the bacterioplankton. The observations were consistent with routes via a slowly cycling pool, such as polymeric organic material. -from Authors