Redfield ratio

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Redfield ratio or Redfield stoichiometry is the molecular ratio of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in phytoplankton.

Contents 1 Naming 2 Explanation 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Naming

The term is named after the American oceanographer Alfred C. Redfield, who first described the ratio in an article in 1934 (Redfield 1934). The Redfield ratio of organic matter is C:Si:N:P = 106:15:16:1

[edit] Explanation

Redfield described the remarkable congruence between the chemistry of the deep ocean and the chemistry of living things in the surface ocean. Both have N:P ratios of about 16 (atoms to atoms). When nutrients are not limiting, the molar element ratio C:N:P in most phytoplankton is 106:16:1. Redfield thought it wasn't purely coincidental that the vast oceans would have a chemistry perfectly suited to the requirements of living organisms. He considered how the cycles of not just N and P but also C and O could interact to result in this match.

[edit] See also

• ecological stoichiometry

[edit] References

• Redfield A.C., On the proportions of organic derivations in seawater and their relation to the composition of plankton. In James Johnson Memorial Volume. (ed. R.J. Daniel). University Press of Liverpool, pp. 177-192.