Abstract
Measurements of net photosynthesis of benthic estuarine diatoms were made by polarographic registration of oxygen saturation. A measuring cell was constructed in which media with salinities of 2.0 to 100.7‰ were pumped over the algae between measurements. Diatoms from unialgal cultures and mixed populations from intertidal flats appeared to be highly tolerant of extreme salinities. During short-term exposures (20 min) the net photosynthesis of the algae did not drop below 70% of the initial values, within the salinity range 4.0 to 60.0‰. Prolonged exposure (up to 6 h) gave essentially the same results. Populations of benthic diatoms, sampled from field stations with mean salinities of about 30, 12, and below 5‰, showed only gradual differences in their tolerance of salinities between 2.0 and 33.7‰. Two species, Navicula arenaria and Nitzschia sigma, were cultured in media ranging in salinity from 8.0 to 45.0‰ and from 2.0 to 45‰, respectively. The tolerance to changing salinity was only slightly affected by the salinity of the medium in the preculture. The role of salinity in the production and distribution of intertidal diatoms is discussed.
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Hamburg
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Admiraal, W. Salinity tolerance of benthic estuarine diatoms as tested with a rapid polarographic measurement of photosynthesis. Mar. Biol. 39, 11–18 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395587
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395587