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SOME THOUGHTS ON NUTRIENT LIMITATION IN ALGAE 1
Author(s) -
Droop M. R.
Publication year - 1973
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.1529-8817.1973.tb04092.x
Subject(s) - nutrient , biology , substrate (aquarium) , steady state (chemistry) , algae , growth rate , product (mathematics) , consumption (sociology) , biological system , zoology , botany , ecology , mathematics , chemistry , geometry , social science , sociology
SUMMARY An empirical relation relating specific growth, rate in steady state systems to nutrient status with respect to more than one nutrient simultaneously is proposed, based on 3 experimentally verifiable postulates: (1) that uptake depends on the external substrate concentration; (2) that growth depends on the interval substrate concentration; and (3) in a steady state system specific rate of uptake (in the absence of significant, excretion) is necessarily the product of the specific growth rate and internal substrate concentration. The implications of this model are discussed in particular in respect to the concept of luxury consumption and Liebig's law of minimum. Some aspects of uptake in transient situations are also discussed.