A modelling approach to the interplay of carbohydrates, bacteria and non-pigmented flagellates in a controlled ecosystem experiment with Skeletonema costatum

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Abstract
The role of heterotrophic nanoflagellates in the process of bacterial removal in marine plankton was investigated by developing a predator-prey model based on Monod kinetics. Four state variables were defined: total dissolved carbohydrates, and total populations of bacteria, flagellates and ciliates. Growth kinetic parameters were optimized by using experimental data from an in situ culture experiment with S. costatum in a controlled ecosystem. The successive developments of heterotrophs and the consumption of dissolved carbohydrates were simulated very well by the model. Potential biomass production through the detrital food chain was also calculated and compared to estiamtes based on experimental observations. Bacterial production was partly due to decomposition of amino acids and proteins in the early phase of growth. Bacteria were the primary consumers of dissolved carbohydrates, while phagotrophy by heterotrophic flagellates caused the subsequent rapid decline in the bacterial populations.

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