IMPORTANCE OF LIGHT FOR THE FORMATION OF ALGAL BLOOMS BY EMILIANIA-HUXLEYI

A review of natural bloom and mesocosm data for Emiliania huxleyi sugg ests a connection between bloom formation, shallow mixed layers and hi gh light intensities. But how does E. huxleyi differ from other algae in its response to light, and what is the cause of the competitive adv antage at high light intensities? In this article, P-I curves for calc ified, naked and de-calcified cultures of E. huxleyi are presented. Th e experimental results show that a lack of photoinhibition in E. huxle yi up to al least. 1000 mu Ein m(-2) s(-1) may contribute to the domin ance of this species at high light intensities, and that this lack of photoinhibition is not due to the presence of reflective coccoliths ar ound the cell.