Comparison of Rates of Flagellate Bacterivory and Bacterial Production in a Marine Coastal System |
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Authors: | Isabel Barcina Begoa Ayo Marian Unanue Luis Egea and Juan Iriberri |
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Institution: | Isabel Barcina, Begoña Ayo, Marian Unanue, Luis Egea, and Juan Iriberri |
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Abstract: | Protozoan predation on bacteria and bacterioplankton secondary production were simultaneously determined in La Salvaje Beach water during 1990. Protozoan grazing on bacterioplankton was measured from fluorescently labeled bacterium uptake rates; estimates of bacterial secondary production were obtained from 3H]thymidine incorporation rates. Two different conversion factors were used to transform thymidine incorporation rates into bacterial production rates; both of them were specific for La Salvaje Beach and were calculated by using empirical and semitheoretical approaches. The average flagellate predation rate was 14.0 bacteria flagellate-1 h-1; the average population predation rate was 7.35 x 106 bacteria liter-1 h-1. The estimates of bacterial production differed greatly depending on the conversion factor used, and so did the percentages of bacterial production consumed by flagellated protozoa (4.6% when the empirical conversion factor for La Salvaje Beach was used and 113% when the semitheoretical conversion factor specific for this system was used). The ecological implications of each of these values are discussed. |
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