Ammonium theory, description

Finally, cell-quota theory treats the entire cellular content of a nutrient as being the pool controlling growth rate (under limiting conditions), and deals with multiple nutrient interactions empirically. At the third level of description, MECHANISTIC models aim to embody realistic accounts of the main biochemical processes and pools within cells. A recent example (Flynn Hipkin, 1999 Flynn, 2001) deals with nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon and iron as well as the carbon content of cells, photosynthesis, and the uptake competition between ammonium and nitrate. However, the model embodies many parameters and there is currently insufficient information to use it to distinguish between groups or species of phytoplankters. Its characteristic nutrient quota parameters are included in Table 9.3 except for those for silicon, which are cell-based. 

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