The literature suggests two models describing the relationship between phyto‐ and bacterioplankton abundance in freshwater: that total P abundance determines algal abundance, which in turn determines bacterial abundance, or that algae and bacteria compete for P. In four data sets investigating the variability of algae, bacteria, and P among lakes, bacterial abundance was more closely related to P concentration than to chlorophyll. Bacterial abundance was strongly related to the residuals of the Chl‐P relationship, explaining 18–65% of the residual variance. The partial correlation is positive, however, indicating that algal‐bacterial competition for P does not determine algal or bacterial abundance. The data are most consistent with an alternative model postulating that P directly influences both algal and bacterial abundance, that algae and bacteria directly influence each other’s abundance, and that a third factor (temperature or perhaps bacterivore abundance) also influences both algal and bacterial abundance in the same manner.

Currie, D. J. (1990). Large‐scale variability and interactions among phytoplankton, bacterioplankton, and phosphorus. Limnology and Oceanography, 35(7), 1437–1455. Portico.