Inhibitory Analysis of Regulatory Interactions in Trophic Webs

Ostroumov S.A. Inhibitory Analysis of Regulatory Interactions in Trophic Webs. - Doklady Biological Sciences, 2001, v.377, No.1-6; pp.139-141. scribd.com/doc/49065567.
Abstract: In the paper, the author proposed a new approach to analyze the key ecological issue, the interactions between organisms in ecosystems. The new methodology proposed is inhibitory analysis. The author applied this approach to analyze trophic chains: the top–down control of plankton by benthic filter-feeders. This control, as the author’s experiments have shown, might be removed by chemical inhibitors (the latter may enter the ecosystem as pollutants). As an example, the author gives the results of his experiments on how surfactants [tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TDTMA)] and synthetic detergents inhibited the control of plankton (Monochrystis lutheri) by mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis. The method was successfully applied to innovatively analyze the factors that are among reasons of eutrophication. Among new facts: the cationic surfactant TDTMA 1 mg/L inhibited the filtration rate of juveniles of marine bivalves Mytilus galloprovincialis, and the removal of cells of the algae Monochrysis lutheri from water (50 min, 26˚C)]. DOI 10.1023/A:1019218026198; http://sites.google.com/site/2001dbs377p139inhibitory/;