| Concentrations and utilization rates of alanine, aspartate, lysine, glucose, glycollic, acetic and lactic acids have been determined on 6 occasions at least, during a full seasonal cycle in the water column of 3 stations (Scheldt estuary, coastal North Sea and English Channel) with greatly differing biological characteristics. No significant differences in substrate concentration could be detected between the 3 stations, although the rate of utilization of all substrates differed greatly, decreasing in the order estuarine > coastal > open sea environment. This apparent paradox is explained by aid of a simple model showing that the steady state concentration of a particular substrate is independent of its rate of production (and thus of consumption)... |
