Effects of bottle size in determinations of primary productivity by phytoplankton

✍ Scribed by G.E. Fogg; O. Calvario-Martinez

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 386 KB
• Volume: 173
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5141
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00015518

✦ Synopsis

Determinations of primary productivity were made by the radiocarbon method at regular intervals over a year in samples, taken from the eutrophic waters of the Menai Strait, North Wales, and contained in bottles of capacities from 135 ml up to 2290 ml. Fixation per unit volume in particulate matter retained by 0 45 pm pore size membrane filters was independent of bottle size over most of the year. There was a consistent divergence, however, during the period of rapid phytoplankton growth in the spring, when small bottles gave up to three times higher values than large ones. Possible effects of bottle size on primary productivity determinations are discussed but the cause of this particular result is not apparent.