Abstract
An attempt has been made to evaluate the accuracy of ATP as a measure of living phytoplankton carbon in estuaries. Phytoplankton carbon estimated from ATP was compared to estimates from cell counts. In high biomass samples the agreement between the two estimates was quite good. In the low biomass samples the cell count method underestimated phytoplankton carbon relative to the ATP estimate. This was interpreted to be due in part to low cell counts in these samples. Contamination by microzooplankton (essentially only tintinnids) was, in 14 out of the 18 samples, < 3% of the ATP estimated carbon. However, it was as high as 19% in one case. In the lowest biomass samples (< 0.5 μg chlorophyll a/L) bacterial populations may contribute as much as 50% of the total living carbon. It is concluded that, with caution, ATP is a useful measure of living phytoplankton carbon in estuaries during periods of moderate to high biomass (> 1 μg chlorophyll a/L for the St. Lawrence). Since carbon to chlorophyll ratios in the high biomass samples varied considerably, a constant ratio appears inapplicable for transforming chlorophyll to carbon. Key words: ATP, phytoplankton biomass, estuaries, carbon to chlorophyll ratio
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