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International Helgoland Symposium: Convener's report on the Informal Session on biomass and productivity of microorganisms in planktonic ecosystems

Abstract

This paper is a brief report on an informal session held during the International Helgoland Symposium 1976. On the basis of a tape recording and notes, it has been prepared by the author who acted as convener of the session. The report indicates that many in the community of marine biologists are not quite ready to accept the increasing evidence of a substantial biomass of bacterioplankton and its apparent activity. Equally skeptical are a few marine bacteriologists who cannot accept the primary productivity and heterotrophic potential estimates obtained with14C bottle experiments which fail to show oceanic values commensurate with bacterioplankton values obtained with other means. The discussants apparently agree to disagree until the reasons for the apparent discrepancy are known.

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Sieburth, J.M. International Helgoland Symposium: Convener's report on the Informal Session on biomass and productivity of microorganisms in planktonic ecosystems. Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunters 30, 697–704 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02207872

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