A comparison of specific growth rates of periphytic diatoms of varying cell size under laboratory and field conditions

Diatom species grown under non-limiting nutrient availability in multispecific biofilms were sampled from glass substrates immersed in the field and in experimental freshwater microcosms, and their growth responses were determined. The major species that developed on the substrates were common to both experiments and the specific growth rates (k) ranged from 0.06 to 0.41 division day. An inverse relationship between k and cell sizes was observed, which is in accordance with allometry results reported by several authors. Although found in lower amounts, the large, slow-growing species accounted significantly in total community biovolume, underlying their significance for ecological purposes. From growth characteristics data, life history strategies were drawn for the dominant species recorded, from small pioneer species to large taxa that are more favoured by high resource supply. Kinetic data measured in both laboratory and in situ experiments stressed that the difficulties to mimic the field in laboratory experiments may have a strong impact on growth kinetics. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.