A simple steady-state model is used to examine the microbial loop as a pathway for organic C in marine systems, constrained by observed estimates of bacterial to primary production ratio (BP:PP) and bacterial growth efficiency (BGE). Carbon sources (primary production including extracellular release of dissolved organic carbon, DOC), cycling via zooplankton grazing and viral lysis, and sinks (bacterial and zooplankton respiration) are represented. Model solutions indicate that, at least under near steady-state conditions, recent estimates of BP:PP of about 0.1 to 0.15 are consistent with reasonable scenarios of C cycling (low BGE and phytoplankton extracellular release) at open ocean sites such as the Sargasso Sea and subarctic North Pacific. The finding that bacteria are a major (50%) sink for primary production is shown to be consistent with the best estimates of BGE and dissolved organic matter (DOM) production by zooplankton and phytoplankton. Zooplankton-related processes are predicted to provide the greatest supply of DOC for bacterial consumption. The bacterial contribution to C flow in the microbial loop, via bacterivory and viral lysis, is generally low, as a consequence of low BGE. Both BP and BGE are hard to quantify accurately. By indicating acceptable combinations of parameter values for given BP:PP, the model provides a simple tool for examining the reliability of BP and BGE estimates.
KEY WORDS: Microbial loop · Bacterial production · BGE · Models · DOC · Extracellular release
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherAquat Microb Ecol 26: [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] 2001 However a recent literature review of BGE in open ocean areas by del Giorgio & Cole (2000) indicates a mean value of 0.15. Replacing the BGE of 0.45 with a BGE of 0.15 in the above calculation gives a BCD:PP of 1.33, which at face value would suggest that in excess of 100% of PP passes through the microbial loop.A number of factors should be taken into consideration when analyzing C flows in this way. Firstly, BP, and hence also BCD, are not constrained by PP, because each C atom can be cycled any number of times around the microbial loop before being respired. Indeed it is possible to construct food-web scenarios in which BP exceeds the input of organic C if growth efficiencies of bacteria and zooplankton are sufficiently high (Strayer 1988). In contrast bacterial respiration (BR), in conjunction with zooplankton respiration (ZR), cannot exceed the supply of organic C. Secondly, alternate sources of organic C should be considered. Most routine 14 C-primary production measurements do not include estimates of the extracellular production of organic carbon (EOC) by exudation or leakage (Bjørnsen 1988), which is an additional source of C for bacteria. There is little consensus on the magnitude and factors controlling EOC in aquatic systems. Expressed as a percentage of extracellular release (PER), this source of DOC typically accounts for about 10% of total pr...