Studies on the growth and nitrogen assimilation of the bloom dinoflagellate Gyrodinium aureolum Hulburt

Abstract
Growth experiments were carried out with laboratory cultures of Gyrodinium aureolum. Physiological studies on CO2 fixation and nitrogen nutrition were undertaken with a natural population dominated by the same organism. These studies suggested that the population was in a late stage of bloom development and suffering from a degree of nitrogen limitation. The relevance of the ammonium enhancement of dark CO2 fixation as a technique for determining the nitrogen status of phytoplankton is discussed as are the difficulties involved in extrapolating results from laboratory studies to field situations.