Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC16 Microbial Dynamics

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Staroscik, A, M, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, USA, amstar@gso.uri.edu

Smith, D, C, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, USA, dcsmith@gso.uri.edu

THE RESPONSE OF BACTERIAL PRODUCTION TO CHANGES IN TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON CONCENTRATION AND TEMPERATURE IN NARRAGANSETT BAY, RI, USA

Bacterial production in temperate estuaries has been shown to be controlled by temperature over most of the annual cycle. Studies have also demonstrated that increased substrate availability can alleviate low temperature induced reduction in bacterial production. The major phytoplankton bloom in Narragansett Bay typically occurs during the coldest part of the year (annual temperature range -1 to 25 C). We studied the relationship between increased availability of organic substrate produced by the bloom and bacterial production. Bacterial production (3H-leucine incorporation), total organic carbon (TOC, high temperature catalytic oxidation) and chlorophyll a and phaeophytin (fluorometer) were measured on samples taken at one station (41 34.24'N; 71 24.34'W) on a weekly basis from 13 December 1999 through 13 June 2000 (n=25). Over the sampling period, temperatures ranged from 1.5 to 19 C. While temperature alone explained 52% of the variability in bacterial production, the combination of temperature and TOC explained 67% (p<0.001). This relationship appears to be insensitive to observed changes in community structure over the sampling period.

This Session Listing

Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

Quicklinks