Comments to the Acidification and Bubbling Method for Determining Phytoplankton Production
- 1 January 1979
- Vol. 33 (1) , 69-73
- https://doi.org/10.2307/3544513
Abstract
The acidification and bubbling method, a liquid scintillation counting (LSC) technique could yield erroneous results if the effects of suspended phytoplankton organisms on 14C counting efficiency (physical quenching, selfabsorption) are disregarded. Effects of pH change and incorporation of 14C by diatoms, blue-green and green algae on 14C counting efficiency were investigated. The suggested LSC technique apparently does not discriminate between dissolved and particulate 14C labeled compounds, and acidification does not interfere with 14C counting efficiency. Thus selfabsorption can be neglected and quenching does not need to be considered if 14C activity of each sample is measured twice, at its natural pH and after acidification and bubbling. This technique provides highly reproducible results. Therefore in primary production research, the application of the acid bubbling method, a simple, relatively inexpensive and accurate technique, is highly recommended.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF ERROR IN THE 14C METHOD OF MEASURING PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY1Limnology and Oceanography, 1967