THE RELATIVE PREFERENCE INDEX (RPI) FOR PHYTOPLANKTON NITROGEN USE ISONLY WEAKLY RELATED TO PHYSIOLOGICAL PREFERENCE

Citation
W. Stolte et R. Riegman, THE RELATIVE PREFERENCE INDEX (RPI) FOR PHYTOPLANKTON NITROGEN USE ISONLY WEAKLY RELATED TO PHYSIOLOGICAL PREFERENCE, Journal of plankton research, 18(6), 1996, pp. 1041-1045
Citations number
10
Categorie Soggetti
Marine & Freshwater Biology
ISSN journal
01427873
Volume
18
Issue
6
Year of publication
1996
Pages
1041 - 1045
Database
ISI
SICI code
0142-7873(1996)18:6<1041:TRPI(F>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
In field studies where the uptake of different nitrogen compounds in p hytoplankton is studied, a relative preference index (RPI) is often us ed which describes uptake relative to the abundance of a particular ni trogen compound, usually ammonium. This index can easily be misused wh en it is applied as a physiological preference indicator. In this stud y, it is shown that the index may be more dependent on nutrient concen trations than on the algal preference for ammonium under certain circu mstances.