Assimilation ratios and dark uptake of 14CO2 were measured in phytoplankton from nutrient‐poor water from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and compared statistically with the same parameters in algae from nutrient‐rich water. Of these parameters, only assimilation ratios decreased significantly in poor water as compared with rich water, and the difference was not great; the other did not differ significantly. It is concluded that phytoplankton from poor water arc not extremely nitrogen deficient and that levels of ammonium (which include some amino nitrogen) are high enough to maintain the algae in a fairly healthy state.
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William H. Thomas (1970) studied this question.