Abstract
Although N-fixation has been assumed to contribute substantially to the overall N requirements of primary production in benthic microbial mat communities, few quantitative studies have been undertaken. Several factors have contributed to the lack of quantitative data including: 1) pronounced temporal variability in rates of N-fixation (which necessitate rate measurements over entire diel cycles), 2) difficulties in relating rates of nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction) to actual N fixed (due to possible natural variations in this ratio, documented in other systems; Bothe, 1982), and 3) differences in methodologies used by various authors to assay N-fixation. These restraints on the acquisition of quantitative N-fixation data, as well as comparable restraints on obtaining reliable estimates of carbon fixation in these communities (Revsbech et al. 1981), result in some uncertainty as to the importance of N-fixation in supporting primary productivity in microbial mats.
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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Bebout, B.M., Paerl, H.W., Bauer, J.E., Canfield, D.E., Des Marais, D.J. (1994). Nitrogen cycling in microbial mat communities: The quantitative importance of N-fixation and other sources of N for primary productivity. In: Stal, L.J., Caumette, P. (eds) Microbial Mats. NATO ASI Series, vol 35. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78991-5_27
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