Although the Redfield ratio is remarkably stable in the deep ocean, phytoplankton may have large variations in the C:N:P composition, and their life strategy play a role in the C:N:P ratio, which has made some researchers speculate that the Redfield ratio perhaps is a general average rather than specific requirement for phytoplankton growth. However, the Redfield ratio was recently found to be related to a homeostatic protein-to-rRNA ratio fundamentally present in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Furthermore, the Redfield ratio has been shown to vary at different spatial scales as well as average slightly higher (166:20:1) than Redfield's original estimate. In some ecosystems, the Redfield Ratio has also been shown to vary significantly by the dominant phytoplankton taxa present in an ecosystem, even in systems with abundant nutrients. Consequently, the system-specific Redfield Ratio could serve as a proxy for plankton community structure.