| 1. |
- Luo, Y. -W, et al.
(författare)
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Database of diazotrophs in global ocean : abundance, biomass and nitrogen fixation rates
- 2012
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Ingår i: Earth System Science Data. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1866-3508 .- 1866-3516. ; 4:1, s. 47-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Marine N-2 fixing microorganisms, termed di-azotrophs, are a key functional group in marine pelagic ecosystems. The biological fixation of dinitrogen ( N-2) to bioavailable nitrogen provides an important new source of nitrogen for pelagic marine ecosystems and influences primary productivity and organic matter export to the deep ocean. As one of a series of efforts to collect biomass and rates specific to different phytoplankton functional groups, we have constructed a database on diazotrophic organisms in the global pelagic upper ocean by compiling about 12 000 direct field measurements of cyanobacterial diazotroph abundances (based on microscopic cell counts or qPCR assays targeting the nifH genes) and N-2 fixation rates. Biomass conversion factors are estimated based on cell sizes to convert abundance data to diazotrophic biomass. The database is limited spatially, lacking large regions of the ocean especially in the Indian Ocean. The data are approximately log-normal distributed, and large variances exist in most sub-databases with non-zero values differing 5 to 8 orders of magnitude. Reporting the geometric mean and the range of one geometric standard error below and above the geometric mean, the pelagic N-2 fixation rate in the global ocean is estimated to be 62 (52-73) Tg Nyr(-1) and the pelagic diazotrophic biomass in the global ocean is estimated to be 2.1 (1.4-3.1) Tg C from cell counts and to 89 (43-150) Tg C from nifH- based abundances. Reporting the arithmetic mean and one standard error instead, these three global estimates are 140 +/- 9.2 Tg Nyr(-1), 18 +/- 1.8 Tg C and 590 +/- 70 Tg C, respectively. Uncertainties related to biomass conversion factors can change the estimate of geometric mean pelagic diazotrophic biomass in the global ocean by about +/- 70 %. It was recently established that the most commonly applied method used to measure N-2 fixation has underestimated the true rates. As a result, one can expect that future rate measurements will shift the mean N-2 fixation rate upward and may result in significantly higher estimates for the global N-2 fixation. The evolving database can nevertheless be used to study spatial and temporal distributions and variations of marine N-2 fixation, to validate geochemical estimates and to parameterize and validate biogeochemical models, keeping in mind that future rate measurements may rise in the future.
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| 2. |
- Alonso-Sáez, Laura, et al.
(författare)
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Role for urea in nitrification by polar marine Archaea
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 109:44, s. 17989-17994
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the high abundance of Archaea in the global ocean, their metabolism and biogeochemical roles remain largely unresolved. We investigated the population dynamics and metabolic activity of Thaumarchaeota in polar environments, where these microorganisms are particularly abundant and exhibit seasonal growth. Thaumarchaeota were more abundant in deep Arctic and Antarctic waters and grew throughout the winter at surface and deeper Arctic halocline waters. However, in situ single-cell activity measurements revealed a low activity of this group in the uptake of both leucine and bicarbonate (<5% Thaumarchaeota cells active), which is inconsistent with known heterotrophic and autotrophic thaumarchaeal lifestyles. These results suggested the existence of alternative sources of carbon and energy. Our analysis of an environmental metagenome from the Arctic winter revealed that Thaumarchaeota had pathways for ammonia oxidation and, unexpectedly, an abundance of genes involved in urea transport and degradation. Quantitative PCR analysis confirmed that most polar Thaumarchaeota had the potential to oxidize ammonia, and a large fraction of them had urease genes, enabling the use of urea to fuel nitrification. Thaumarchaeota from Arctic deep waters had a higher abundance of urease genes than those near the surface suggesting genetic differences between closely related archaeal populations. In situ measurements of urea uptake and concentration in Arctic waters showed that small-sized prokaryotes incorporated the carbon from urea, and the availability of urea was often higher than that of ammonium. Therefore, the degradation of urea may be a relevant pathway for Thaumarchaeota and other microorganisms exposed to the low-energy conditions of dark polar waters.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Swalethorp, Rasmus, et al.
(författare)
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Microzooplankton distribution in the Amundsen Sea Polynya (Antarctica) during an extensive Phaeocystis antarctica bloom
- 2019
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Ingår i: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 170, s. 1-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Antarctica, summer is a time of extreme environmental shifts resulting in large coastal phytoplankton blooms fueling the food web. Despite the importance of the microbial loop in remineralizing biomass from primary production, studies of how microzooplankton communities respond to such blooms in the Southern Ocean are rather scarce. Microzooplankton (ciliate and dinoflagellate) communities were investigated combining microscopy and 18S rRNA sequencing analyses in the Amundsen Sea Polynya during an extensive summer bloom of Phaeocystis antarctica. The succession of microzooplankton was further assessed during a 15-day induced bloom microcosm experiment. Dinoflagellates accounted for up to 59 % of the microzooplankton biomass in situ with Gymnodinium spp., Protoperidiwn spp. and Gyrodinium spp. constituting 89 % of the dinoflagellate biomass. Strobilidium spp., Strombidium spp. and tintinids represented 90 % of the ciliate biomass. Gymnodiniwn, Gyrodinium and tintinnids are known grazers of Phaeocystis, suggesting that this prymnesiophyte selected for the key microzooplankton taxa. Availability of other potential prey, such as diatoms, heterotrophic nanoflagellates and bacteria, also correlated to changes in microzooplankton community structure. Overall, both heterotrophy and mixotrophy appeared to be key trophic strategies of the dominant microzooplankton observed, suggesting that they influence carbon flow in the microbial food web through top-down control on the phytoplankton community.
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| 5. |
- Yager, P. L., et al.
(författare)
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A carbon budget for the Amundsen Sea Polynya, Antarctica: Estimating net community production and export in a highly productive polar ecosystem
- 2016
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Ingår i: Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene. - : University of California Press. - 2325-1026. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Polynyas, or recurring areas of seasonally open water surrounded by sea ice, are foci for energy and material transfer between the atmosphere and the polar ocean. They are also climate sensitive, with both sea ice extent and glacial melt influencing their productivity. The Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP) is the greenest polynya in the Southern Ocean, with summertime chlorophyll a concentrations exceeding 20 mu g L-1. During the Amundsen Sea Polynya International Research Expedition (ASPIRE) in austral summer 2010-11, we aimed to determine the fate of this high algal productivity. We collected water column profiles for total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nutrients, particulate and dissolved organic matter, chlorophyll a, mesozoo-plankton, and microbial biomass to make a carbon budget for this ecosystem. We also measured primary and secondary production, community respiration rates, vertical particle flux and fecal pellet production and grazing. With observations arranged along a gradient of increasing integrated dissolved inorganic nitrogen drawdown (Delta DIN; 0.027-0.74 mol N m(-2)), changes in DIC in the upper water column (ranging from 0.2 to 4.7 mol C m(-2)) and gas exchange (0-1.7 mol C m(-2)) were combined to estimate early season net community production (sNCP; 0.2-5.9 mol C m(-2)) and then compared to organic matter inventories to estimate export. From a phytoplankton bloom dominated by Phaeocystis antarctica, a high fraction (up to similar to 60%) of sNCP was exported to sub-euphotic depths. Microbial respiration remineralized much of this export in the mid waters. Comparisons to short-term (2-3 days) drifting traps and a year-long moored sediment trap capturing the downward flux confirmed that a relatively high fraction (3-6%) of the export from similar to 100 m made it through the mid waters to depth. We discuss the climate-sensitive nature of these carbon fluxes, in light of the changing sea ice cover and melting ice sheets in the region.
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