TY - JOUR

T1 - Further evidence of elemental composition as an indicator of the bioavailability of humic substances to bacteria.

AU - Hunt, A. P.

AU - Parry, Jackie D.

AU - Hamilton-Taylor, John

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - Batch culture experiments examined the ability of an isolated bacterial community to utilize four humic substances with similar molecular size but variable elemental composition. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis of the results provided evidence of a significant positive relationship between the N: C ratio and bacterial concentrations. In contrast, neither H: C nor O: C ratios were significant predictors of humic substances bioavailability, and their inclusion in the multivariate model provided no further explanatory power compared with the univariate model using N: C as the single independent variable. These findings suggest that N: C ratios provide the best indicator of bioavailability for complex, recalcitrant carbon moieties typical of many aquatic systems.

AB - Batch culture experiments examined the ability of an isolated bacterial community to utilize four humic substances with similar molecular size but variable elemental composition. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis of the results provided evidence of a significant positive relationship between the N: C ratio and bacterial concentrations. In contrast, neither H: C nor O: C ratios were significant predictors of humic substances bioavailability, and their inclusion in the multivariate model provided no further explanatory power compared with the univariate model using N: C as the single independent variable. These findings suggest that N: C ratios provide the best indicator of bioavailability for complex, recalcitrant carbon moieties typical of many aquatic systems.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 45

SP - 237

EP - 241

JO - Limnology and Oceanography

JF - Limnology and Oceanography

SN - 0024-3590

IS - 1

ER -