High phytoplankton growth and production rates in oligotrophic Hawaiian coastal waters1

Abstract

Plankton biomass, material fluxes, e.g. 14 C uptake, and specific growth rates are related quantities. In the course of comparing various methods of measuring these properties in September 1982 off Oahu, Hawaii, we found specific growth rates of 1–2·d −1 . Such rates approach the maximum expected values observed in laboratory cultures.