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Seasonal variations in the utilization of ammonium and nitrate by photoplankton in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, USA

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Abstract

The nitrogenous nutrition of the phytoplankton in Vineyeard Sound, Massachusetts, USA was investigated over a 15-month period. Highest rates of ammonium uptake were observed immediately prior to, or during, the diatom bloom periods, and with one exception were found in the <10 μm size class. The saturating rate of ammonium uptake correlated well with temperature and gave Q10 values of 2.6–3.2; correlations with ambient solar irradiation were not nearly so clear. Uptake rates of ammonium exceeded those of nitrate except during the winter bloom of the diatom Rhizosolenia delicatula; yet calculation of the f ratio revealed that nitrate was relatively important in the nitrogenous nutrition of the phytoplankton throughout the year.

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Author notes

  1. P. M. Glibert

    Present address: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    P. M. Glibert

  2. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

    J. C. Goldman

  3. Marine Science Research Center, State University of New York, 11794, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    E. J. Carpenter

Authors
  1. P. M. Glibert
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  2. J. C. Goldman
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  3. E. J. Carpenter
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Communicated by R. O. Fournier, Halifax

Contribution no. 5096 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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Glibert, P.M., Goldman, J.C. & Carpenter, E.J. Seasonal variations in the utilization of ammonium and nitrate by photoplankton in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, USA. Mar. Biol. 70, 237–249 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396842

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