Application of resource-ratio theory to hydrocarbon biodegradation
- Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Resource-ratio theory is one of the major logical frameworks used in ecology to predict how competition for growth-limiting resources influences biological diversity and function within a biological community. This paper presents experimental and other evidence that resource-ratio theory can also be applied to nutrient supplementation in hydrocarbon biodegradation. The theory makes two major predictions about nutrient supply and hydrocarbon biodegradation: (i) that changes in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply ratio conditions will significantly alter biodegradation rates and that these changes in N:P ratio will cause significant shifts in microbial community composition and (ii) that changes in absolute nutrient supply levels, at constant supply ratios, will alter total hydrocarbon-degrader biomass, resulting in altered rates of hydrocarbon biodegradation. Here the authors analyze data from previous experiments studying the effects of N and P supply conditions on hexadecane and phenanthrene degradation in soil slurry reactors. Through the development of resource supply maps relating degradation rate and N and P supply conditions, it is shown that hydrocarbon degradation in slurry reactors is consistent with both major predictions of the theory.
- OSTI ID:
- 323757
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 32, Issue 21; Other Information: PBD: 1 Nov 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Long‐term continuous cropping affects ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial nutrient acquisition: a case study from a Chinese Mollisol
Environmental factors influencing the rate of hydrocarbon oxidation in temperate lakes