| Summary: | Using laboratory cultures of algae and natural phytoplankton populations from Nhatrang Bay (South China Sea), the relationship between the chlorophyll fluorescence <i>F</i><sub>0</sub>, the chlorophyll <i>a</i> concentration <i>C</i><sub>a</sub> and light absorption capacities of algae cells was studied. It is shown that the ratio <i>F</i><sub>0</sub>/<i>C</i><sub>a</sub> depends mainly on the species composition of the algae population; hence, the concentration <i>C</i><sub>a</sub> can be measured with the fluorescence method with acceptable accuracy only when the species composition of algae populations varies over a rather narrow range. The fluorescence <i>F</i><sub>0</sub> can, however, be a good index of the total absorption capacities of different phytoplankton species, because the intensity of <i>F</i><sub>0</sub> depends on the sum total of light absorbed by all photosynthetic pigments in a plant cell. Thus, the fluorescence <i>F</i><sub>0</sub> measures not only the concentration of chlorophyll <i>a</i>, but that of all photosynthetic pigment concentrations.
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