Abstract
A theory based on the performance of an electrical analogue circuit for balanced ecosystems relates respiration to the storage of labile organic matter during daytime photosynthesis. A very small storage capacitance and time constant may be introduced into the circuit to simulate a nannoplanktonic sygtem. It is found that respiration approaches photosynthesis during the day and almost ceases at night. Consequently, the usual carbon14 measurements of net production, and the conventional light-and-dark-bottle oxygen measurements of net production and nighttime respiration greatly underestimate gross photosy~thesis of tropical seas. An example of this phenomenon is shown in a planktonic brine microcosm.
Recommended Citation
Odum, Howard T., Robert J. Beyers, and Neal E. Armstrong. 1963. "Consequences of small storage capacity in nannoplankton pertinent to measurement of primary production in tropical waters." Journal of Marine Research 21, (3). https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/journal_of_marine_research/1006