EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE, NITROGEN SUPPLY, AND TISSUE NITROGEN ON AMMONIUM UPTAKE RATES OF THE CHLOROPHYTE SEAWEEDS ULVA CURVATA AND CODIUM DECORTICATUM

Nitrogen uptake rates of Ulva curvata (Kütz.) de Toni (Ulvales) and Codium decorticatum (Woodw.) Howe (Caulerpales) grown under several N addition regimes were determined by perturbation and continuous mode techniques, and as N demand, by the product of growth rate and tissue N. Uptake rates are reported as the slope of rate vs. concentration curves in each case. N uptake rates of U. curvata were inversely correlated with tissue N and affected only slightly by temperature. There was no correlation of N uptake rate with tissue N in C. decorticatum. N uptake rates of C. decorticatum were affected by temperature but to a lesser degree than were growth rates. Neither N addition per se nor light affected N uptake capacity of either species. The proximal mechanism for seaweeds accumulation of N at low light and temperatures may be that N uptake is less limited by light and temperature than is growth. This in turn may partially compensate for the effects of reduced light and temperature on growth by increasing pigment and enzyme levels. Perturbation uptake rates were higher than continuous mode or N demand rates in Ulva but not in Codium. N uptake rates of Ulva were higher than those of Codium, but N storage capacities were lower. These two observations suggest that Ulva experiences a fundamentally more variable N supply than does Codium. This is consistent with the clarification of Ulva as an ephemeral form and of Codium as persistent. A seaweed's functional form therefore appears to influence the spectrum of resource variability available to it as well as its ability to persist in the environment.