Phytoplankton Ecology Structure, Function and Fluctuation [Paperback]

1 Preamble.- 1.1 A brief introduction to the organisms.- 2 Ecological theory.- 2.1 An historical perspective: the concept of plenitude.- 2.2 Ecology and evolution.- 2.3 Equilibrium theory.- 2.4 The equilibrium theory of community structure.- 2.5 Criticisms of equilibrium theory.- 2.6 Non-equilibrium theory.- 2.7 Some ideas from non-equilibrium thermodynamics.- 3 Some basic physics.- 3.1 Scales of turbulent kinetic energy generation.- 3.2 The physics of surface waters.- 3.2.1 Small scale events.- 3.2.2 Medium scale (seasonal) events.- 3.2.3 Large scale events.- 4 The chemical environment.- 4.1 The Redfield ratio.- 4.2 The major ions.- 4.2.1. The distribution of phytoplankton in relation to the major ions.- 4.3 The major nutrients.- 4.3.1 Carbon.- 4.3.2 Nitrogen.- 4.3.3 Phosphorus.- 5 Defining the scales of interest.- 5.1 Patchiness in space and time.- 5.1.1 Vertical mixing and sedimentation.- 5.1.2 Horizontal mixing.- 5.1.3 Spectra of turbulent kinetic energy.- 5.1.4 Spectra of chemical fluctuations.- 5.2 The biological response to variability in space and time.- 5.2.1 Physiological scales.- 5.2.2 The scales of growth rates.- 5.3 Models of competition between phytoplankton.- 6 The measurement of productivity and growth rates.- 6.1 The interpretation of kinetic measurements.- 6.1.1 14C uptake.- 6.1.2 15N uptake.- 6.1.3 32P uptake.- 6.2 The integration of metabolic pathways.- 6.2.1 C and N metabolism.- 6.2.2 C and P metabolism.- 6.3 Time scales and the effects of bottle containment.- 6.4 From kinetics to growth rates?.- 7 The concept of limiting nutrients.- 7.1 Rate processes in oligotrophic waters.- 7.2 The cycling of N and P in lakes and the oceans.- 7.3 Nutrient cycling, elemental ratios and the Redfield ratio.- 7.4 Patterns in temporal fluctuations.- 7.5 Whole basin averages.- 8 Physiological scales: non-steady state conditions in the field.- 8.1 The effects of environmental variability on growth rates.- 8.1.1 Diversification between species.- 8.2 Energy, nutrienlC9