Abstract
Twenty five measurements in triplicate of heterotrophic activity in sea water showed good reproducibility. The mean coefficient of variation was 6.2%, which is lower than the coefficient of variation obtained with a similar method for primary production measurements. This result indirectly confirms that most heterotrophic activity can be attributed to a great number of small cells, i.e., bacteria which, if not free-swimming, are fixed to particles of smaller size than the average phytoplankton. The good reproducibility obtained also suggests that there was no extraneous contamination despite non-sterile working conditions.
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Communicated by J.M. Pérès, Marseille
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Herbland, A., Pagès, J. Note on the variability of heterotrophic activity measurements by the 14C method in sea water. Marine Biology 35, 211–214 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396869
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396869