Sea foam as an object of sea-surface film studies |
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| Authors: | NIKOLAI V DRUZHKOV PAVEL R MAKAREVICH SERGEI I BARDAN |
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| Institution: | N. V. Druzhkov, P. R. Makarevich and S. I. Bardan, Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, Department of Plankton and Microbiology, 184 631 Murmansk Region, Dalnie Zelentsy, Russia. |
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| Abstract: | Sea foam and sea-surface films are pelagic habitats of common origin. This suggests a possible similarity between their microplanktonic assemblages and an a priori possibility to use foam samples in qualitative sea-surface film studies. The composition and abundance of microheterotrophs (nanoflagellates <5 μm and bacteria) in the Dalnezelenetskaya Inlet, Kola Peninsula, Barents Sea, in August 1987, was nearly identical in the foam and sea-surface film samples. In contrast, the enrichment of foam with autotrophs (nano- and microphytoplankton) exceeded by an order of magnitude that of sea-surface films, whereas their taxonomic compositions were virtually identical in both habitats. Elevated growth rates of phytoplankton in sea foam appear to be an ecological mechanism responsible for the enrichment. |
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