JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 9 | NUMBER 2 | PAGES 277-289 | 1987
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Microzooplankton and macrozooplankton glutamate dehydrogenase as indices of the relative contribution of these fractions to ammonium regeneration in the Gulf of Maine
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences McKown Point, W.Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575, USA
Received on June 1, 1985; accepted on December 1, 1986 Ammonium regeneration by micro- (35153 µm) and macrozooplankton (> 153 µm) was determined in the Gulf of Maine by measuring the activity of the excretory enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) in various size fractions. GDH maxima were generally observed to correspond to the depth of the chlorophyll maximum as previously reported in the Gulf of Mexico and in the vicinity of the Nantucket Shoals. GDH activity of the microzooplankton was considerably lower than the macrazooplankton, suggesting the microzooplankton made only a minor contribution (111 %) to the total ammonium regenerated. These results were confirmed by biomass estimates made from counts of individual species. Ammonium excretion by both zooplankton fractions was estimated to supply 531 % of the nitrogen requirements for primary production, with an estimated 5963% supplied by the vertical transport of nitrate (new nitrogen) into the euphoric zone.
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