4,211 research outputs found
Algal nutrient competition in continuous culture
Natural phytoplankton from Lake Constance was exposed to competition experiments in continuous culture at 6 different molar rations of PratioSi as potentially limiting nutrients. As predicted by theory there was competitive exclusion of all species but one at single nutrient limitation, and coexistence of two species in steady state when P was limiting for one and Si for the other species. In one case coexistence of three species occurred. Equilibrium species composition, which stabilized after 3 to 6 weeks of cultivation, was independent of the species composition of the inoculum and only controlled by the nutrient regime. Comparability of experimental results and field observations is discussed
Copolymer adsorption kinetics at a selective liquid-liquid interface: Scaling theory and computer experiment
We consider the adsorption kinetics of a regular block-copolymer of total
length and block size at a selective liquid-liquid interface in the
limit of strong localization. We propose a simple analytic theory based on
scaling considerations which describes the relaxation of the initial coil into
a flat-shaped layer. The characteristic times for attaining equilibrium values
of the gyration radius components perpendicular and parallel to the interface
are predicted to scale with chain length and block length as
(here is the Flory exponent)
and as , although initially the rate of coil
flattening is expected to decrease with block size as . Since
typically for multiblock copolymers, our results suggest that the
flattening dynamics proceeds faster perpendicular rather than parallel to the
interface. We also demonstrate that these scaling predictions agree well with
the results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations of the localization dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submited to Europhys. Let
Disturbance-diversity relationships in two lakes of similar nutrient chemistry but contrasting disturbance regimes
Phytoplankton diversity was studied in two North German lakes of comparable nutrient chemistry but different exposure to winds. In both lakes, phytoplankton was primarily N-limited but diatoms were Si-limited. Plußsee had a very constant mixing depth during summer, while week-to-week changes of several meters were quite common in the more exposed Behler See. In Plußsee, phytoplankton biomass during summer came closer to the carrying capacity as defined by the available total N. In Plußsee there was a marked decline of diversity during the summer maximum of biomass, while this decline was less pronounced in Behler See. It is concluded that disturbances which prevented phytoplankton from reaching the carrying capacity also maintained a high level of diversity. A negative response of diversity to undisturbed conditions became apparent, after phytoplankton biomass had exceeded about 5% of the carrying capacity
The periodicity of phytoplankton in Lake Constance (Bodensee) in comparison to other deep lakes of central Europe
Phytoplankton periodicity has been fairly regular during the years 1979 to 1982 in Lake Constance. Algal mass growth starts with the vernal onset of stratification; Cryptophyceae and small centric diatoms are the dominant algae of the spring bloom. In June grazing by zooplankton leads to a lsquoclear-water phasersquo dominated by Cryptophyceae. Algal summer growth starts under nutrient-saturated conditions with a dominance of Cryptomonas spp. and Pandorina morum. Depletion of soluble reactive phosphorus is followed by a dominance of pennate and filamentous centric diatoms, which are replaced by Ceratium hirundinella when dissolved silicate becomes depleted. Under calm conditions there is a diverse late-summer plankton dominated by Cyanophyceae and Dinobryon spp.; more turbulent conditions and silicon resupply enable a second summer diatom growth phase in August. The autumnal development leads from a Mougeotia — desmid assemblage to a diatom plankton in late autumn and winter.
Inter-lake comparison of algal seasonality includes in ascending order of P-richness Königsee, Attersee, Walensee, Lake Lucerne, Lago Maggiore, Ammersee, Lake Zürich, Lake Geneva, Lake Constance. The oligotrophic lakes have one or two annual maxima of biomass; after the vernal maximum there is a slowly developing summer depression and sometimes a second maximum in autumn. The more eutrophic lakes have an additional maximum in summer. The number of floristically determined successional stages increases with increasing eutrophy, from three in Königsee and Attersee to eight in Lake Geneva and Lake Constance
The species composition of Antarctic phytoplankton interpreted in terms of Tilman's competition theory
An attempt was made, to test for the impact of resource competition on Antarctic marine phytoplankton. According to theory, species composition near competitive equilibrium should be determined by the ratios of limiting resources. Enrichment bioassays identified silicon and nitrogen as limiting nutrients for some of the most important phytoplankton species during early austral summer in the region near the Antarctic Peninsula. Together with the generally acknowledged limiting resource light, this gave three meaningful ratios of essential resources (Si:N, Si:light, N:light) and one ratio of substitutable resources (NO sub(3):NH sub(4)). Phytoplankton species assemblages were found to be well separated by the ratios of the essential resources and by mixing depth
Phytoplankton Cell Size Reduction in Response to Warming Mediated by Nutrient Limitation
Shrinking of body size has been proposed as one of the universal responses of organisms to global climate warming. Using phytoplankton as an experimental model system has supported the negative effect of warming on body-size, but it remains controversial whether the size reduction under increasing temperatures is a direct temperature effect or an indirect effect mediated over changes in size selective grazing or enhanced nutrient limitation which should favor smaller cell-sizes. Here we present an experiment with a factorial combination of temperature and nutrient stress which shows that most of the temperature effects on phytoplankton cell size are mediated via nutrient stress. This was found both for community mean cell size and for the cell sizes of most species analyzed. At the highest level of nutrient stress, community mean cell size decreased by 46% per degrees C, while it decreased only by 4.7% at the lowest level of nutrient stress. Individual species showed qualitatively the same trend, but shrinkage per degrees C was smaller. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that temperature effects on cell size are to a great extent mediated by nutrient limitation. This effect is expected to be exacerbated under field conditions, where higher temperatures of the surface waters reduce the vertical nutrient transport
Parasitic chytrids could promote copepod survival by mediating material transfer from inedible diatoms
Diatoms form large spring blooms in lakes and oceans, providing fuel for higher trophic levels at the start of the growing season. Some of the diatom blooms, however, are not grazed by filter-feeding zooplankton like Daphnia due to their large size. Several of these large diatoms are susceptible to chytrid infections. Zoospores of chytrids appeared to be excellent food for Daphnia, both in terms of size, shape, and quality (PUFAs and cholesterol). Thus, zoospores of chytrids can bridge the gap between inedible diatoms and Daphnia. In order to examine the effects of diatoms and chytrids on the survival of copepods, we performed one grazing and one survival experiment. The grazing experiment revealed that the diatom, Asterionella formosa, was not grazed by the copepod, Eudiaptomus gracilis, even after being infected by the chytrid Zygorhizidium planktonicum. However, carbon and nitrogen concentrations were significantly reduced by E. gracilis only when A. formosa was infected by Z. planktonicum, indicating that the chytrids might facilitate material transfer from inedible diatoms to the copepods. The survival experiment revealed that E. gracilis lived shorter with A. formosa than with the cryptophyta Cryptomonas pyrenoidifera. However, the survival of E. gracilis increased significantly in the treatment where A. formosa cells were infected by Z. planktonicum. Since E. gracilis could not graze A. formosa cells due to their large colonial forms, E. gracilis may acquire nutrients by grazing on the zoospores, and were so able to survive in the presence of the A. formosa. This provides new insights into the role of parasitic fungi in aquatic food webs, where chytrids may improve copepod survival during diatom blooms.
Monte Carlo simulations of random copolymers at a selective interface
We investigate numerically using the bond--fluctuation model the adsorption
of a random AB--copolymer at the interface between two solvents. From our
results we infer several scaling relations: the radius of gyration of the
copolymer in the direction perpendicular to the interface () scales
with , the interfacial selectivity strength, as
where is the usual Flory exponent and
is the copolymer's length; furthermore the monomer density at the interface
scales as for small . We also determine numerically the
monomer densities in the two solvents and discuss their dependence on the
distance from the interface.Comment: Latex text file appended with figures.tar.g
Localization transition of random copolymers at interfaces
We consider adsorption of random copolymer chains onto an interface within
the model of Garel et al. Europhysics Letters 8, 9 (1989). By using the replica
method the adsorption of the copolymer at the interface is mapped onto the
problem of finding the ground state of a quantum mechanical Hamiltonian. To
study this ground state we introduce a novel variational principle for the
Green's function, which generalizes the well-known Rayleigh-Ritz method of
Quantum Mechanics to nonstationary states. Minimization with an appropriate
trial Green's function enables us to find the phase diagram for the
localization-delocalization transition for an ideal random copolymer at the
interface.Comment: 5 page
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