Ecology of Phototrophic Sulfur Bacteria

Abstract

Phototrophic sulfur bacteria often form mass developments in aquatic environments, either planktonic or benthic, where anoxic layers containing reduced sulfur compounds are exposed to light. This chapter summarizes a number of reports from the literature, collecting the information on the abundance of these bacteria as well as on their contribution to primary production. From the point of view of population dynamics, the abundance of these organisms is the consequence of a certain balance between growth and losses. Both specific growth rates, and specific rates of loss through several processes are analyzed in several environments, in an attempt to generalize on the growth status of blooms of phototrophic sulfur bacteria. The information available indicates the existence of an upper limit for the production of these bacteria in nature, and seems to suggest the existence of an upper limit for biomass based in the balance between growth and losses.