| "In vitro" enrichment experiments on natural populations have been used to determine the nutrients controlling the potential biomass of phytoplancton in the Ebrié coastal lagoon. The limiting nutrients were generally nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, in this order ; in three cases out of eleven, P and N act simultaneously ; in an extreme eutrophication case, N, P and C were all limiting. No effect was observed following addition of metals, vitamins or chelators. The limitations deduced from the enrichment experiments show a. good agreement with the elementary composition of the external medium ; in waters potentially limited by N alone, the dissolved inorganic nutrients have a N : P ratio lower than 25. The agreement is poorer when the sestonic N : P ratio... |
