Phytoplankton pigments and growth rates, and microzooplankton grazing in a large temperate estuary

Abstract

At two stations in Chesapeake Bay some taxa showed consistently high growth rates (eg zeaxanthin, an indicator of cyanobacteria, always exceeded chorolophyll a in growth, ranging up to 2.52 d-1), while others varied widely. Across all experiments and pigments, microzooplankton grazing was correlated with phytoplankton growth rates and was significant in the removal of phytoplankton biomass, often equalling or exceeding growth estimates. -from Authors