OBSERVED CHANGES IN SPECTRAL SIGNATURES OF NATURAL
PHYTOPLANKTON POPULATIONS: THE INFLUENCE OF NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY
Ch.S. YENTSCH and A.PHINNEY
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean SCiences, W. Boothbay Harbor,
Maine, 04575 USA.
INTRODUCTION
A question often asked - "Is the high species diversity one
observes in phytoplankton populations the result of differences in
the physiology of specific species?" Perhaps classical taxonomy is
too "fine-tuned" to identify environmental factors which affect
individual species' physiology •••• It is suggested that the environmental physiologist might be better served by measurements of
features that characterize the basic energy flow and these be used as
a taxonomic index. One means of doing this involves the measurement
of spectral characteristics of cellular fluorescence from different
types of photosynthetic autotrophs (Yentsch and Yentsch, 1979).
Historically, early studies of plant physiology established the
potential of utilizing fluorescent signatures.
The pioneering
research of Engleman in the l860s recognized that plants and algae
through diverse pigmentation, could absorb light of different colors
and utilize it for photosynthesis.
As more physiological evidence
accumulated, it became apparent that different morphological and
hence, taxonomic groups, possessed different suites of pigments.
This classification is based on color and each color group has a
distinctive color fluorescent signature.
DIFFERENTIATION OF COLOR GROUPS
Taking the bulk of all known photosynthetic autotrophs in the
ocean, there appears to be at least three ways in which light is
harvested.
These can be differentiated by the light absorbed by
photosynthetic pigments which are accessory to the main photosynthetic pigment, chlorophyll a.
Individual color groups of
photosynthetic autotrophs can be indexed using the different types of
pigments accessory to chlorophyll~. These are, chlorophylls £ and
£, carotenoid proteins (this refers to a pigment-protein complex),
PHYTOPLANKTON POPULATIONS: THE INFLUENCE OF NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY
Ch.S. YENTSCH and A.PHINNEY
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean SCiences, W. Boothbay Harbor,
Maine, 04575 USA.
INTRODUCTION
A question often asked - "Is the high species diversity one
observes in phytoplankton populations the result of differences in
the physiology of specific species?" Perhaps classical taxonomy is
too "fine-tuned" to identify environmental factors which affect
individual species' physiology •••• It is suggested that the environmental physiologist might be better served by measurements of
features that characterize the basic energy flow and these be used as
a taxonomic index. One means of doing this involves the measurement
of spectral characteristics of cellular fluorescence from different
types of photosynthetic autotrophs (Yentsch and Yentsch, 1979).
Historically, early studies of plant physiology established the
potential of utilizing fluorescent signatures.
The pioneering
research of Engleman in the l860s recognized that plants and algae
through diverse pigmentation, could absorb light of different colors
and utilize it for photosynthesis.
As more physiological evidence
accumulated, it became apparent that different morphological and
hence, taxonomic groups, possessed different suites of pigments.
This classification is based on color and each color group has a
distinctive color fluorescent signature.
DIFFERENTIATION OF COLOR GROUPS
Taking the bulk of all known photosynthetic autotrophs in the
ocean, there appears to be at least three ways in which light is
harvested.
These can be differentiated by the light absorbed by
photosynthetic pigments which are accessory to the main photosynthetic pigment, chlorophyll a.
Individual color groups of
photosynthetic autotrophs can be indexed using the different types of
pigments accessory to chlorophyll~. These are, chlorophylls £ and
£, carotenoid proteins (this refers to a pigment-protein complex),