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Artifacts in measuring absorption spectra of phytoplankton collected on a filter
Author(s) -
Stramski Dariusz
Publication year - 1990
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.1990.35.8.1804
Subject(s) - filtration (mathematics) , phytoplankton , filter (signal processing) , absorption (acoustics) , absorption spectroscopy , environmental science , decomposition , biological system , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , chemistry , environmental chemistry , optics , mathematics , biology , physics , nutrient , computer science , composite material , organic chemistry , computer vision , statistics
I show a conventional filter technique for measuring absorption spectra of phytoplankton may be subject to errors arising from rapid decomposition of pigments collected on the filter. Incorrect values of spectral absorption indicating a higher proportion of degraded pigments relative to their actual cellular concentration can be measured by this method. The sensitivity of the method to these errors appears to be species specific. A simple refinement, incorporating chemical fixation of microorganisms before filtration, is proposed as a possible means to overcome these artifacts. Inadequacy of glass‐fiber filters for retaining all absorbing particles is also suggested as a potential source of underestimation in particulate absorption measured traditionally on samples collected by filtration.