Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (15)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrowScopus Links
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Markager, S.
Right arrow Articles by Vincent, W. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Markager, S.
Right arrow Articles by Vincent, W. F.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Plankton Research Vol.23 no.12 pp.1373-1384, 2001
© Oxford University Press 2001

Light absorption by phytoplankton: development of a matching parameter for algal photosynthesis under different spectral regimes

Stiig Markager,1,2 and Warwick F. Vincent

Département de Biologie & Centre D’études Noridques, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec G1K 7P4, Canada

1 Present Address: National Environmental Research Institute, Department of Marine Ecology, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark

2 Corresponding Author: E-mail: markager{at}dmu.dk

A spectral matching parameter (absorption efficiency, Ae) was developed to quantify the relationship between the light absorption spectra of phytoplankton communities and the spectral irradiance of their ambient light field. Ae was defined as the ratio between the amount of radiation absorbed by the phytoplankton in situ and the amount absorbed in a spectrally flat light regime. This approach was applied to our measurements of spectral absorption for the phytoplankton communities in six lakes in High Arctic Canada that spanned a range of bio-optical conditions. Ae values were calculated for the light spectrum down through the water column and for 11 types of artificial light source. Spectral matching varied among lakes and with depth. There was a significant linear relationship between the relative change in Ae with depth and the diffuse attenuation coefficient Kd (r2 = 0.52, P = 0.012 for Kd for the 400–700 nm waveband; r2 = 0.78, P = 0.0003 for Kd at 440 nm). The tabulated values for the matching parameter Ae allow the comparison of photosynthesis versus irradiance (P versus E) curves among studies using different light sources. Ae estimates also facilitate the evaluation of chromatic adaptation in natural waters, and the calculation of spectrally adjusted, in situ primary production down through a water column from P versus E relationships under a single spectral regime.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Plant Physiol.Home page
T. D.B. MacKenzie, R. A. Burns, and D. A. Campbell
Carbon Status Constrains Light Acclimation in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus
Plant Physiology, October 1, 2004; 136(2): 3301 - 3312.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
P. A. Staehr and J. J. Cullen
Detection of Karenia mikimotoi by spectral absorption signatures
J. Plankton Res., October 1, 2003; 25(10): 1237 - 1249.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.