Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Factors Affecting The Kinetics Of Light Intensity Adaptation In Marine Phytoplankton, Chunzhi Guo

OES Theses and Dissertations

It has been suggested that the recent light history of phytoplankton and the kinetics of photoadaptation can be used to provide information about the vertical mixing processes in the upper mixed layer. To be useful as a parameter in a model of photoadaptation and vertical mixing, the response of a photoadaptive variable to changes in growth irradiance must be monotonic, significant, and comparable in time rate scale to mixing processes. Previous studies of photoadaptation kinetics have focused on the response of phytoplankton to changes in light intensity under continuous illumination. This dissertation attempts to elucidate the effects of light:dark cycle, …