Stoichiometric N:P Ratios, Temperature, and Iron Impact Carbon and Nitrogen Uptake by Ross Sea Microbial Communities

The Southern Ocean is one of the most biologically important ecosystems on our planet. Microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, form the base of the food web in the Southern Ocean and play a direct role in regulating how much and how fast elements like nitrogen and carbon are cycled throughout the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Main Authors: Spackeen, JL, Bronk, DA, Sipler, RE, Bertrand, EM, Hutchins, DA, Allen, AE
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2018
Subjects:
Ross Sea
Stoichiometry
Temperature
Iron
Nitrogen Uptake
Carbon Uptake
Physical Sciences Peer-Reviewed Articles
Oceanography
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsarticles/1348
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/2347/viewcontent/Spackeen_et_al_2018_Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Biogeosciences.pdf
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/vimsarticles/article/2347/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/jgrg21218_sup_0001_2017jg004316_figure_si_s01.docx
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Summary:The Southern Ocean is one of the most biologically important ecosystems on our planet. Microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, form the base of the food web in the Southern Ocean and play a direct role in regulating how much and how fast elements like nitrogen and carbon are cycled throughout the world ocean. The goal of this research was to determine how predicted changes in the environment will impact how fast phytoplankton use these elements. The conditions that we tested included elevated temperature, addition of iron, and the proportion of nitrogen to phosphorus in the seawater. These parameters were selected because temperatures are increasing in the Southern Ocean, and the relative availability of nutrients can alter what species of phytoplankton are present and how fast they grow. Phytoplankton were collected from two locations in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, and grown for a few weeks under experimental conditions. Our results demonstrate that all three parameters, warmer temperatures, the addition of iron, and changing nitrogen to phosphorus ratios will increase how fast phytoplankton use nitrogen and carbon, but the impact of elevated temperature and the addition of iron had a much larger impact than the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio.

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