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Analytic models of NH 4+ uptake and regeneration experiments 1
Author(s) -
Laws Edward A.
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.1985.30.6.1340
Subject(s) - particulates , regeneration (biology) , process (computing) , nitrogen , chemistry , phase (matter) , thermodynamics , physics , computer science , biology , organic chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , operating system
Differential equations describing the uptake and regeneration of NH 4 + in both laboratory and field experiments are shown to have analytic solutions which can easily be inverted to determine the rate constants of interest. The solutions are used to study the descriptive ability of two fundamentally different models of NH 4 + cycling, one in which NH 4 + regeneration is regarded as a process that transfers N from particulate N to NH 4 + , the other in which regeneration is regarded as a process that introduces NH 4 + to the dissolved phase without removing N from the particulate phase. The former model was found to give a good description of experimental field data and reasonable parameter values in all cases studied. The latter model was much less successful in describing the data and in producing reasonable parameter values. It is concluded that transfer of nitrogen from particulate N to NH 4 + is a process which must be taken into account in analyzing NH 4 + uptake and regeneration experiments.