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Grazing, respiration, excretion, and growth rates of tintinnids 1
Author(s) -
Verity Peter G.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1985.30.6.1268
Subject(s) - excretion , phytoplankton , zoology , respiration , ingestion , biology , plankton , grazing , environmental chemistry , ecology , chemistry , botany , nutrient , biochemistry
Clearance, ingestion, and growth rates of two coastal tintinnid ciliates were measured in batch culture as a function of temperature and phytoplankton concentration. Oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion rates were determined at food concentrations which supported maximum growth rates at each temperature. Clearance, ingestion, respiration, excretion, and growth rates of both species increased with temperature. Clearing rates declined with increasing phytoplankton abundance. Ingestion and growth rates increased asymptotically with phytoplankton abundance and declined at high food concentrations. Gross growth efficiency was highest at phytoplankton concentrations which supported maximum growth rates. Over a range of temperatures, respiration and excretion were linearly related and exhibited significant linear relationships with ingestion and curvilinear relationships with growth. O : N ratios were 4–7, assuming an RQ of 1.0. The metabolic data were combined with previous measurements of in situ production by tintinnids to estimate their potential carbon requirements and NH 4 + regeneration in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Tintinnids ingested a carbon equivalent of 16–26% of the total annual net primary production and 32–52% of <10‐ µ m nanoplankton production. Nitrogen excretion was sufficient to support 11–18% of net primary production.