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INTERCEPTION OF ATMOSPHERIC FIXED NITROGEN AS AN ADAPTIVE ADVANTAGE OF SCUM FORMATION IN BLUE‐GREEN ALGAE 1
Author(s) -
Lewis William M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-3646.1983.00534.x
Subject(s) - interception , biology , blue green algae , carbon fibers , algae , atmosphere (unit) , nitrogen , botany , ecology , meteorology , paleontology , mathematics , cyanobacteria , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , composite number , bacteria
Scum formation by blue‐green algae has been interpreted as a nonadaptive failure of the buoyancy control mechanism and, alternatively, as an adaptive mechanism to reduce inorganic carbon limitation. Data from Lake Valencia, Venezuela, are used to illustrate the principle that scum formers intercept significant amounts of fixed N deposited from the atmosphere at the water surface. Interception of fixed N at the surface can confer a significant selective advantage for populations that are strongly N limited, as in Lake Valencia. This additional adaptive advantage to scum formation may be alternative lo or complementary to the possible relief of carbon limitation.