JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 20 | NUMBER 9 | PAGES 1853-1859 | 1998
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Silicate and the functional geometry of marine phytoplankton
Institut fuür Meereskunde Duüsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
Received on March 28, 1998; accepted on May 14, 1998 The impact of nutrient supply ratios on the functional geometry of phytoplankton has been studied by means of competition experiments with phytoplankton communities from the Arabian Sea. Cell length and deviation from spherical shape of dominant competitors increased with Si:N ratios.Surface:volume ratios were minimal at intermediate Si:N ratios. Grazing by the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis did not lead to a qualitative shift in the response of geometric properties to Si:N ratios; however, mean cell lengths increased while surface:volume ratios decreased.