Abstract
It has been suggested that turbulence with the resultant light/dark cycle and light gradient through which phytoplankton move, enhances their productivity. The stationary bottle incubation technique for estimating rates of primary productivity has mainly been criticized because of bottle effects, the elimination of natural turbulence and the presence of photo-inhibition. In a series of experiments where productivity was measured over static profiles and compared to the productivity in a mixed system, no definite conclusion could be reached regarding the effect of varying light/dark cycles of medium frequency (seconds to minutes). It appeared as though the ratio of the euphotic depth to mixing depth (Z eu/Z m) influenced productivity more than the duration of the light/dark cycle. The static bottle incubation method gave higher integral productivities than the mixed samples at low ratio's ofZ eu/Z m. It is suggested that mixing has two separate, but synergistic effects i.e. it not only moves the phytoplankton cells through a light/dark cycle, but also decreases the boundary layer, which increases the rate of exchange through the cell wall of nutrients and metabolites. In doing so more nutrients are available and light could be utilized more efficiently and therefore, productivity is increased.
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Grobbelaar, J.U. Do light/dark cycles of medium frequency enhance phytoplankton productivity?. J Appl Phycol 1, 333–340 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003470
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003470