Ref ID : 1081
R.E. Johannes; Influence of marine protozoa on nutrient regeneration. Univ.Georgia marine Institute 85:434-442, 1964
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Per unit weight, marine protozoa excrete dissolved phosphorus one to two orders of magnitude faster than marine microcrustaceans and several orders of magnitude faster than marine macrofauna. Protozoa may therefore be responsible for a major fraction of faunal nutrient excretion even though present only as a minor fraction of the faunal biomass. Regeneration of dissolved inorganic phosphate from organic detritus proceeds faster and more completely in the presence of bacteria and ciliates of colorless flagellates than in the presence of bacteria alone. An increased consumption of organic detritus in the presence of protozoa is performed by bacteria, which are kept in a prolonged state of "physiological youth" by grazing protozoa. Present results indicate that it is the protozoa that produce, via excretion, the greater regeneration of nutrient from organic detritus. By constituting a nutrient source for protozoa, bacteria are indirectly involved in this increased regeneration.