Temperature effects on the heterotrophic bacteria, heterotrophic ...

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Aquat Microb Ecol 67: 107–121, 2012
Oligotrophic planktonic ecosystems are responsible
for nearly 22% of net primary production in the
oceans (Field et al. 1998). Their carbon biomass is
dominated by planktonic microbes (Gasol et al. 1997),
and >40% of their secondary bacterial production is
consumed by protists (Vázquez-Domínguez et al.
2005). In these ecosystems, nano flagellates are often
top-down controlled by microzooplankton, such as
ciliates and dinoflagellates (Hansen 1991, Verity
1991), which are more important than mesozooplankton
as consumers of the lower trophic levels
(Calbet & Landry 2004). In oligotrophic conditions,
the growth efficiencies of heterotrophic bacteria and
protists are