Understanding the zooplankton ammonium excretionfrom biogeochemical implications to intracellular regulatory mechanisms
- Fernández Urruzola, Igor
- María Milagrosa Gómez Cabrera Director
- Theodore Train Packard Director
Defence university: Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Fecha de defensa: 22 January 2016
- Fidel Echevarría Navas Chair
- Antonio J. González Ramos Secretary
- Lidia Yebra Mora Committee member
- Carlos Almeida Peña Committee member
- María Huete Ortega Committee member
Type: Thesis
Abstract
[EN] This thesis focuses on the zooplankton NH4+ regeneration that supports about the 80% of the phytoplankton requirements. In its more oceanographic facet, it elucidates the control that the mesozooplankton community exerts on the primary productivity in the northern Benguela, and models the N-fluxes from zooplankton NH4+ excretion. At the physiological level, it examines the relationship between the NH4+ excretion and its associated biochemistry. Assuming the substrate availability as the critical factor in regulating the velocity of NH4+ production, a bisubstrate model was developed to predict its actual rate in zooplankton. Overall, this research provides knowledge about the implications of zooplankton NH4+ excretion on the biogeochemical cycles, and introduces new insights into the study of this process from enzymatic measurements.