proportio 

 are quite 

 has been 

 inclusi on 

 arrives i 

 hydroxide 

 the fecal 

 1972, 197 

 manganese 

 consumpti 



n of 0.4 pg pe 



common in the 

 established th 



in this manne 

 nto the benthi 

 s and enters t 



matter of the 

 3a, g). Based 



and cobalt by 

 on of these el 



r mg of Cq„„. The bacteria producing this vitamin 



sea (SorokTn, 1971a; Lebedeva et al., 1971). It 

 at the consumption of cobalt by bacteria and its 

 r in the food chain is the main path by which cobalt 

 c sediments. This metal does not form insoluble 

 he bottom sediment in significant quantities with 



invertebrates which feed on bacteria (Sorokin, 

 on analyses of the intensity of consumption of iron, 

 bacteria and phytopl ankton, the time of total 

 ements by them has been calculated (Table 10). 



Table 10. Calculation of probable time of consumption of the stock of 

 dissolved iron, manganese and cobalt in the World Ocean by bacteria and 

 phytoplankton. 



2.9 The Trophic Role of Microflora in Marine Ecosystems 



The concept of the significant role of bacteria in the food chains of 

 aquatic communities was formulated and a basis provided for it by A. G. 

 Rodina and S. I. Kuznetsov. They showed, primarily in qualitative 

 laboratory experiments, that the trophic function of the bacterial 

 population of bodies of water consists in the conversion of dispersed 

 organic matter into the matter of microbial cells which are accessible as a 

 food for invertebrates consuming bacteria. The continuation of 

 investigations of the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems 

 (Vinogradov, 1971) required extensive quantitative development of the 

 problem of the trophic role of bacteria, in order to evaluate the fraction 

 of microflora in the transformation of organic matter and energy and the 

 formation of the food resources of marine ecosystems. Studies performed on 

 board the VITYAZ' and AKADEMIK KURCHATOV in 1968-1974, allowed methodologic 

 approaches to be developed to the solution of this problem and certain 

 preliminary data to be obtained. 



A quantitative estimate of the significance of microflora in the food 

 chains of marine ecosystems requires information on the concentrations of 

 bacterial biomass and the rates of its production, the sources of energy 

 for bacterial production and the characteristics of effectiveness of 

 nutrition of massive species of invertebrates by bacteria. The results of 

 the studies of the feeding of planktonic and benthic invertebrates. 



277 



