Hydrographic fronts shape productivity, nitrogen fixation, and microbial community composition in the southern Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Hörstmann, Cora, Raes, Eric, Buttigieg, Pier Luigi, Lo Monaco, Claire, John, Uwe, Waite, Anya M.
• Other Authors: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Jacobs University = Constructor University Bremen, Dalhousie University Halifax, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart, Leibniz Institute of Marine Science at the University of Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel = Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel = Université Christian-Albrechts de Kiel (CAU), Cycles biogéochimiques marins : processus et perturbations (CYBIOM), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB), Carl Von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg = Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (OFFIS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03319686; https://hal.science/hal-03319686/document; https://hal.science/hal-03319686/file/bg-18-3733-2021.pdf; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3733-2021

International audience Abstract. Biogeochemical cycling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in the ocean depends on both the composition and activity of underlying biological communities and on abiotic factors. The Southern Ocean is encircled by a series of strong currents and fronts, providing a barrier to microbial dispersion into adjacent oligotrophic gyres. Our study region straddles the boundary between the nutrient-rich Southern Ocean and the adjacent oligotrophic gyre of the southern Indian Ocean, providing an ideal region to study changes in microbial productivity. Here, we measured the impact of C and N uptake on microbial community diversity, contextualized by hydrographic factors and local physico-chemical conditions across the Southern Ocean and southern Indian Ocean. We observed that contrasting physico-chemical characteristics led to unique microbial diversity patterns, with significant correlations between microbial alpha diversity and primary productivity (PP). However, we detected no link between specific PP (PP normalized by chlorophyll-a concentration) and microbial alpha and beta diversity. Prokaryotic alpha and beta diversity were correlated with biological N 2 fixation, which is itself a prokaryotic process, and we detected measurable N 2 fixation to 60∘ S. While regional water masses have distinct microbial genetic fingerprints in both the eukaryotic and prokaryotic fractions, PP and N 2 fixation vary more gradually and regionally. This suggests that microbial phylogenetic diversity is more strongly bounded by physical oceanographic features, while microbial activity responds more to chemical factors. We conclude that concomitant assessments of microbial diversity and activity are central to understanding the dynamics and complex responses of microorganisms to a changing ocean environment.