Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Evidence For The Priming Effect In A Planktonic Estuarine Microbial Community, Andrew D. Steen, Lauren N.M. Quigley, Alison Buchan
Evidence For The Priming Effect In A Planktonic Estuarine Microbial Community, Andrew D. Steen, Lauren N.M. Quigley, Alison Buchan
Microbiology Publications and Other Works
The “priming effect,” in which addition of labile substances changes the remineralization rate of recalcitrant organic matter, has been intensively studied in soils, but is less well-documented in aquatic systems. We investigated the extent to which additions of nutrients or labile organic carbon could influence remineralization rates of 14C-labeled, microbially-degraded, phytoplankton-derived organic matter (OM) in microcosms inoculated with microbial communities drawn from Grove Creek Estuary in coastal Georgia, USA. We found that amendment with labile protein plus phosphorus increased remineralization rates of degraded, phytoplankton-derived OM by up to 100%, whereas acetate slightly decreased remineralization rates relative to an unamended control. …