Synonyms
Nutrient deficiency; Nutrient insufficiency
Definition
Nutrient limitation is defined as growth limitation of an organism due to nutrient deficiency. A nutrient that is in lowest supply relative to the others will be the limiting nutrient to growth and productivity of the organism (Liebig’s Law of the Minimum).
Description
Ecological Importance: In aquatic ecology, the term “nutrient limitation” refers to the limitation of net primary production, or total system net production. The concept of a limiting nutrient is essential to understanding biological processes. The nutrient in short supply relative to the others will be exhausted first and will thus limit cellular growth. Nutrient limitation leads to a reduction in growth and photosynthetic rate (Falkowski and Raven, 2007). However, unless the nutrients are available in adequate amounts relative to each other, autotrophic growth is “nutrient limited” by one or the other nutrient. Carbon, a highly available element in the...
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Bibliography
Day, J. W., Kemp, M. W., Yánez-Arancibia, A., and Crump, B. C., 2012. Estuarine Ecology, 2nd edn. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Falkowski, P. G., and Raven, J. A., 2007. Aquatic Photosynthesis, 2nd edn. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Redfield, A. C., Ketchum, B. H., and Richards, F. A., 1963. The influence of organisms on the composition of seawater. In Hill, M. N. (ed.), The Sea. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Vol. 2, pp. 26–77.
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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Montes, M.F. (2016). Nutrient Limitation. In: Kennish, M.J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Estuaries. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_175
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4_175
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