Heterotrophic Utilization of Dissolved Organic Compounds in the Sea II. Observations on the Responses of Heterotrophic Marine Populations to Abrupt Increases in Amino Acid Concentration

Abstract

In the sea, heterotrophic bacteria and other micro-organisms oxidize dissolved organic material. This process is important to the seasonal biological cycle of matter there because it is responsible for the return of an appreciable fraction of the inorganic nutrients (Andrews & Williams, 1971). It is also important in the process whereby the sea purifies itself of added dissolved organic pollutants: domestic and industrial wastes and spillages. These two processes, especially the latter, pose important and unanswered questions. One in particular is the behaviour of these heterotrophic populations when subjected to sudden increases in the concentration of an organic substrate. This will occur to some degree under natural conditions in sea water during or after a phytoplankton bloom and will occur to a considerable degree when pollutants are run into the sea.