Phytoplankton studies in the Bay of Quinte. II-relationships between seston-phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon and phytoplankton

Abstract

Characterization of seston samples from the trophogenic waters of the Bay of Quinte, 1967, 1968, were carried out with respect to three nitrogen fractions, three phosphorus fractions, organic carbon, algal volume and chlorophyll a. Significant direct positive relationships were found to exist between each of the various parameters and ratios (wt:wt or wt:cm3) were calculated with the following ranges obtained: phosphorus - labile:nonlabile =1.5-4.0:1 (g:g); nitrogen - labile:nonlabile =1.1-3.0:1 (g:g); carbon:nitrogen =7.0-22.0:1 (g:g); carbon: phosphorus = 95.7 - 386.2:1 (g:g); nitrogen:phosphorus = 4.4 - 55.2:1 (g:g); carbon:algae =0.14:1 (g:cm3); nitrogen:algae =0.0066-0.0206:1 (g:cm3); phosphorus:algae = 0.0004-0.0015:1 (g:cm3); carbon: chlorophyll a = 0.10:1 (g : mg); nitrogen: chlorophyll a =0.0058 - 0.0172:1 (g:mg); phosphorus:chlorophyll a = 0.0003 - 0.0012:1 (g:mg).