Photosynthetic diatoms and marine bacteria contribute about one third of the net primary production in marine environments. Understanding the interactions between these two organisms is potentially important to the over all flow of carbon in the marine ecosystem.
Mechanisms promoting coexistence between closely related species are fundamental for maintaining species diversity. Mechanisms of niche differentiation include allochrony which offsets the peak timing of resource utilisation between species. Many studies focus on spatial and temporal niche partitioning during the breeding season, few have investigated the role allochrony plays in...