Measuring the metabolism of marine organisms in continuous flow-through systems: A mathematical justification and practical implementation of a method

This paper presents a method for measuring the metabolism of macrophytes, macrophytobenthos, periphyton, corals, and other benthic organisms in flow-through systems in non-equilibrium and equilibrium states and provides its mathematical justification. An experimental system has been designed for measuring the rate of metabolic exchange of O2, CO2, NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4, dissolved organic matter (DOM), etc. between aquatic organisms and the environment in situ and in vitro repeatedly during a 24-hour experimental period. Using of this system, production characteristics (photosynthesis and respiration) were calculated for benthic marine organisms and the dependence of the rates of their metabolism on environmental factors was determined.