Table 1. Benthic carbon budgets for the 6-day experimental duration (mmol C m⁻² exp⁻¹±s.e.m.) in May and October.

	Treatment
	Faecal pellet	Diatom
May
Mineralization	0.29±0.10 (1.71)	0.94±0.40 (5.64)
Bacterial uptakea	0.47±0.25 (2.79)	0.70±0.13 (4.20)
Macrofaunal uptakea	<0.01±<0.01 (0.03)	0.03±0.02 (0.18)
Total	0.76±0.27 (4.53)	1.67±0.42 (10.01)
BGE	0.62	0.43
October
Mineralization	0.29±0.10 (1.71)	1.08±0.40 (6.46)
Bacterial uptakea	0.68±0.01 (4.10)	0.40±0.01 (2.40)
Macrofaunal uptakea	0.04±0.01 (0.23)	0.03±0.01 (0.16)
Total	1.01±0.10 (6.04)	1.50±0.40 (9.02)
BGE	0.73	0.28

Abbreviation: BGE, bacterial growth efficiency.

^aUptake values are net and expressed for the 6-day experimental duration to avoid the assumption that rates are linear.

Values in parentheses represent the percentage of added carbon.