WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Model of Microbial Nutrient Uptake

​
log
10
S molecules/
3
μm
​
-2
radius
number of porters
temperature
In 2011, Aksnes and Cao derived a theoretical trait-based model for phytoplankton nutrient uptake, in which inherent microbial traits (cell size, number of porters, handling time, and porter size) are explicitly distinguished from environmental properties (temperature and nutrient concentration with its diffusion coefficient).
The Demonstration plots show the variation in nutrient uptake rate
V
as a function of cell radius, number of porters, and temperature for different ambient nutrient concentrations
S
(controlled by the slider parameter). The results are very different for organisms living in oligotrophic (low nutrient concentration regime) and eutrophic (high nutrient concentration regime) environments.