Phytoplankton community ecology: the role of limiting nutrients.

Examines the role of nutrients and spatial and temporal fluctuations in controlling the species composition, diversity and seasonal succession of planktonic algal communities. The combined net effect of limiting nutrients, major ions, pH and other physical factors ultimately determines the reproductive rate of a local algal population. The theory of resource competition is applied to questions of equilibrium vs. nonequilibrium approaches, seasonal succession and multitrophic level effects in phytoplankton communities. A mechanistic, resource-based approach can be expanded to include many important aspects of the physical and biotic environment. Examples are drawn from freshwater lake systems.-from Authors