BIOL 2200 Lecture Notes - Trophic State Index, Eutrophication, Heterotroph
Document Summary
A continuous supply of nutrients is necessary to sustain productivity. Nutrient cycling in a system open to energy flow and closed to matter. The materials being cycled are recycled and reused. A continuous supply of nutrients helps in keeping a constant process efficiency. If heterotrophs are inefficient at consuming and recycling the biomass produced, the system will be unbalanced. There will be a decrease in nutrients which will limit production. Dead and living biomass will therefore increase. In swamps primary production is very low because there is a low amount of nutrients. An imbalance will persist if inputs balance is lost. High input rates of nutrients will support high productivity. Therefore if nutrient input decreases then productivity will decrease too. As seen in the figure, as phosphorus rates increase the productivity of phytoplankton increases as well. Eutrophic: rich in the inorganic nutrients needed by organisms. Oligotrophic: poor in the inorganic nutrients needed by organisms.
