The effect of temperature on the respiratory electron transport system in marine plankton

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the respiratory electron transport system in plankton was studied in plankton populations between 10 and 45°N lat in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The results yielded Arrhenius activation energies of 15·8 ± 2·8 kcal mole−1 for microplankton, 16 kcal mole−1 for epipelagic zooplankton and 13·2 kcal mole−1 for bathypelagic zooplankton. The differences among these values were not statistically significant. The respiratory electron transport activity and the Arrhenius activation energy in the microplankton from the euphotic zone ranged from 0·12 to 0·16 μl O2 1−1 and from 11·7 to 21·9 kcal mole−1, respectively. Neither parameter varied systematically with temperature.