In your experiments, under default conditions, the cyanobacteria population init
ID: 88808 • Letter: I
Question
In your experiments, under default conditions, the cyanobacteria population initially grew faster than the green algae population, but cyanobacteria were ultimately outcompeted by green algae. Assuming that phosphorus is required for reproduction, which of the tradeoffs below did this outcome reflect?
a.Cyanobacteria are more efficient at taking up nutrients when phosphorus concentrations are low, but less efficient when phosphorus concentrations are high.
b.Green algae are more efficient at taking up nutrients when phosphorus concentrations are low, but less efficient when phosphorus concentrations are high.
c.Cyanobacteria are efficient at taking up nutrients when phosphorus concentrations are low, but they have a high R*.
d.Green algae are efficient at taking up nutrients when phosphorus concentrations are low, but they have a high R*.
Explanation / Answer
Cyanobacteria which is sometimes called as blue-green algae is not algae. It is a prokaryote while algae are eukaryotes. Phosphorous is required for the growth of both cyanobacteria and green algae. When phosphorous is introduced into the system, under high availability of nutrients, there will be enormous growth of algae, plants and other animals. The algae are short lived. The decay of dead organic matter of algae will consume dissolved oxygen which is detrimental for other living things. According to this option (d) green algae are efficient at taking up nutrients when phosphorous concentrations are low, but they have a high R* is correct.