Reassessment of the cell surface area limitation to nutrient uptake in phytoplankton

In many past theoretical and empirical studies of phytoplankton nutrient allometry, cell surface area has been considered the main limiting factor to nutrient uptake rates because of an assumption that the cell surface area is not large enough to accommodate enough uptake sites to meet the uptake de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology. Progress series (Halstenbek) 2013-08, Vol.489, p.87-92
Main Author: Dao, My Ha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
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Summary:In many past theoretical and empirical studies of phytoplankton nutrient allometry, cell surface area has been considered the main limiting factor to nutrient uptake rates because of an assumption that the cell surface area is not large enough to accommodate enough uptake sites to meet the uptake demand. However, calculations in this paper show that the required uptake sites may only cover approximately 76% of the surface area of a typical phytoplankton cell. Cell volume could be the main factor controlling the maximum nutrient uptake rates of phytoplankton cells with a cell volume of
ISSN:0171-8630
1616-1599
DOI:10.3354/meps10434