Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
3349545 
Journal Article 
The microbial loop in flowing waters 
Meyer, JL 
1994 
1 
Microbial Ecology
ISSN: 0095-3628
EISSN: 1432-184X 
28 
2 
195-199 
24186445 
The microbial loop in flowing waters is dependent on allochthonous sources of carbon, which vary in quality. The proportion of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that can be degraded ranges from <1 to over 50%, and the bioavailability of DOC (micrograms bacterial biomass produced per milligram DOC present) ranges over two orders of magnitude. Bioavailability of DOC is predictable from the ratio of H/C and O/C of the DOC, but further work is needed to develop simple predictors of bioavailability of DOC in a range of environments. Consumers of bacteria in streams range in size from protists to insect larvae, with highest rates of bacterial consumption found among the meiofauna and certain filter feeders and grazers. Because there appear to be fewer trophic transfers in the lotic microbial loop, it functions more as a link in flowing waters than it appears to do in the marine plankton.