Diel Flux of Dissolved Carbohydrate in a Salt Marsh and a Simulated Estuarine Ecosystem

Authors

Curtis M. Burney, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Kenneth M. Johnson, University of Rhode Island
John McN. Sieburth, University of Rhode Island

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Marine Biology

ISSN

0025-3162

Publication Date

7-1981

Abstract

The concentrations of total dissolved carbohydrate (TCHO), monosaccharide (MCHO) and polysaccharide (PCHO) were followed over a total of ten diel cycles in a salt marsh and a 13 m3seawater tank simulating an estuarine ecosystem. Their patterns are compared to those for total dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ΣCO2, pH, O2, chlorophyll a, phaeopigments and solar radiation. During 5 of the 6 marsh studies, PCHO underwent periods of sustained accumulation starting in the late morning or early afternoon and continuing into the early evening. These periods possibly represent release of recently synthesized PCHO from phototrophs. similar patterns were not found in the tank although direct associations between TCHO and phaeopigment dynamics suggest that zooplankton excretion was an important source of dissolved carbohydrate. The numbers of planktonic bacteria determined in one tank study increased rapidly during a late morning PCHO pulse and varied inversely with PCHO throughout the afternoon and evening, indicating that they were able to respond rapidly and control natural substrate concentrations on a time scale of a few hours. MCHO fluctuated to a much lesser extent than PCHO at both locations with levels possibly maintained near the bacterial uptake threshold or in a closely regulated steady state. TCHO concentration changes over 2-to 3-h sampling intervals suggest very rapid net system release and uptake with summer rates frequently exceeding 30 μg C l^-1h-1 in the marsh and 20 μg C l^-1 h^-1 in the tank.

DOI

10.1007/BF00406826

Volume

63

Issue

2

First Page

175

Last Page

187

Comments

©Springer-Verlag 1981

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00406826.

Additional Comments

NSF grant #s: OCE-7681779, OCE-7826388; EPA grant #: R80607202

NSUWorks Citation

Curtis M. Burney, Kenneth M. Johnson, and John McN. Sieburth. 1981. Diel Flux of Dissolved Carbohydrate in a Salt Marsh and a Simulated Estuarine Ecosystem .Marine Biology , (2) : 175 -187. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/640.