Medición de la producción bacteriana en un embalse patagónico. Variaciones en un corto período de tiempo

Abstract

In order to assess the influence of hourly and daily variations in the relationship between phytoplanktonic primary production and bacterial secondary production, parallel measurements of the two processes (primary production covering an entire daylight period) were performed in the Patagonian reservoir Exequiel Ramos Mexia. Significant variations in the rates of bacterial secondary production during 24 hours periods were observed, with maximum values during the night and early morning. Because there was no coincidence with the maxima in algal production, it was concluded that isolated measurements only indicate the situation at that particular day and hour, and that algae-bacteria relationships must be carefully evaluated since bacterioplanktonic production can be underestimated if the measurements are restricted to the daylight period.