N:P Uptake Ratio by Macroalgae

[yrema]

hi guys,

any link on how much and how fast Nitrogen and Phosphorous macroalgae take up? (Caulerpa species vs Chaetomorpha, especially)

by the way, I always encounter statements such as "Chaetomorpha uptakes more phosphate than nitrate". Any truth/proof to this?

inputs are very much appreciated.

thanks a bunch.

 

[graveyardworm]

I wish I could provide links, hopefully someone else here can come up with something. There have been other discussions in this forum regarding uptake ratios. Basically different alga take up nutrients in different ratios, and the ratio may even change depending upon other environmental factors.

The truth about uptake ratios is that generally nitrates are taken up at a much faster rate than phosphates, an example which has been used is 20:1, some macros are much higher than this.

 

[graveyardworm]

for the heck of it I did a search of this forum, here are some links.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=718016&highlight=uptake+ratio

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=831362&highlight=uptake+ratio

Oh yeah! This is a good one.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=611702&highlight=uptake+ratio

 

[yrema]

graveyardworm> thanks a lot, you've been very helpful

 

[Samala]

Just so you dont miss it, the first post in this thread has the paper you will want to see from UHawaii. They looked at the specific uptake ratios for a number of macroalgaes. Very interesting stuff to read.

Generally, we find that macroalgae, and microalgae, consume more nitrogen than phosphorus. I have a hard time believing the, "Chaetomorpha uptakes more phosphorus than nitrate" statement without some strong qualifiers to explain this observation.

>Sarah

 

[yrema]

sarah> thanks! sorry if i posted the same topic again (apparently, there are lots of related posts here but the search engine won't let me find them.)

cheers!

marty