Fig. 4
Clearance rate (R C , L h−1) of juvenile mussels on bacteria (a, top left), picophytoplankton (b, top right), and ciliates (c, bottom left) relative to the clearance rate on the nanophytoplankton fraction. The clearance rate on bacteria, picophytoplankton, and ciliates was assumed to be proportional to the clearance rate on nanophytoplankton (e.g. R C bact. = a R C nano). The proportionality coefficient a was estimated by the antilog of the mean log ratio of R C bact, pico and ciliates and R C nano. The black dashed line (a, b) indicates the estimate for a (all years together) (bacteria: a = 0.09, R = 0.75, n = 28, picophytoplankton: a = 0.5, R = 0.95, n = 35, for mussels smaller than 10 mm. For ciliates, there was no significant difference in clearance rate compared to the clearance rate on nanophytoplankton. (y = x). For reasons of clarity, the lines y = x, y = 0.1x, and y = 0.01x are also indicated