Carbon uptake and turnover rates of phytoplankton in Newfoundland coastal waters

TL;DRAbstract

In situ enclosure experiments were completed during phytoplankton bloom and non-bloom conditions in coastal Newfoundland waters. Carbon uptake, pool size and turnover rates of various phytoplankton species and size components were studied using ¹⁴C track autoradiography and standard filtration techniques. Total POC was approximately 313 μg l⁻¹ during bloom conditions compared to 188 μg l⁻¹ in the non bloom enclosure. Approximately 76% of tho POC pool in the bloom enclosure was labelled over three days whereas only 32% was labelled in the non-bloom experiment. The measurement of ¹⁴C uptake yielded estimates of primary production for bloom and non-bloom conditions in the range of 100 μg C l⁻¹ d⁻¹, which were greater than maximum estimates recorded for the highly productive Grand Banks region (ca. 82 μg C l⁻¹ d⁻¹). The measurement of specific cellular carbon uptake over time revealed that, while carbon pool sizes of phytoplankters during bloom conditions agreed well with values found in l

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