Rates of mineralization (decom position) were determined by monitoring [ 14 C]CO 2 evolved from microbial respiration of naturally occurring particulate and dissolved phytoplankton material labeled with 14 C. Added substrate concentrations approximated in situ levels. The design of the incubation bottle and [ 14 C]CO 2 trapping system provided a method for measuring mineralization rates in intact microbial communities under in situ temperatures and dissolved gas concentrations without extreme experimental manipulations. In short term incubations, bacteria appear to be the major agents of phytoplankton decomposition.
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Cole et al. (1979) studied this question.