Abstract
Previous studies have found that the size‐scaling exponent of metabolic rates in unicellular algae often deviates from the exponent of −1/4 usually found for heterotrophs. This study confirms a significant linear relationship between log cell volume (mm3) and log intrinsic growth rate (h−1), carbon‐normalized photosynthetic capacity and performance (h−1), and carbon−normalized respiratory rate (h−1) for eight marine centric diatoms under nutrient−saturated, light‐limited conditions. The intrinsic growth rate and carbon‐normalized respiratory rate have size‐scaling exponents not significantly different from −1/4, whereas the carbon‐specific photosynthetic rates deviate from −1/4. The size dependence of the optical absorption cross section (m2 mg chlorophyll a−1) due to the package effect provides a mechanistic model that explains the anomalous size scaling of the anabolic rates of unicellular phytoplankton.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have