Carbon‐Based Estimate of Nitrogen Fixation‐Derived Net Community Production in N‐Depleted Ocean Gyres

Accurate estimation of net community production (NCP) in the ocean is important for determining the future trend for carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and thus for understanding the global carbon cycle and climate change. Most methods for measuring NCP rely on analysis of dissolved fixed inorganic nitrogen species (N), which are believed to be limiting factors for NCP. However, in the vast areas of the ocean gyres only low levels of N are available for phytoplankton during much of the year. In this study the NCP was estimated by summing the seasonal reduction in the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) in the surface mixed layer, corrected for changes associated with salinity variation, net air‐sea CO2 flux, horizontal C advection, non‐Redfield diffusive C and N fluxes (deviations from the C:N ratio of 7), and anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. The mixed layer reduction in CT was calculated from an annual CT cycle, deduced from comprehensive records of surface pCO2 and total alkalinity, using an established thermodynamic model. This method yielded a value of 0.6 ± 0.2 Pg of C, which represents the NCP that occurred during the warming period (approximately 8 months) in the nitrate‐depleted (<0.2 μmol/kg) ocean. Our estimate is broadly consistent with the global N2 fixation rate estimated using the 15N‐based method and suggests that N2 fixation by microorganisms is a major driver for this NCP.

[1]  S. Doney,et al.  ALOHA From the Edge: Reconciling Three Decades of in Situ Eulerian Observations and Geographic Variability in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre , 2018, Front. Mar. Sci..

[2]  J. K. Moore,et al.  Nutrient budgets in the subtropical ocean gyres dominated by lateral transport , 2016 .

[3]  B. Jönsson,et al.  Is seasonal net community production in the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre anomalously low? , 2016 .

[4]  Masao Ishii,et al.  The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project version 2 (GLODAPv2) – an internally consistent data product for the world ocean , 2016 .

[5]  Adrian P. Martin,et al.  Quantifying mesoscale‐driven nitrate supply: A case study , 2016 .

[6]  S. Nakaoka,et al.  Long‐term variability of surface nutrient concentrations in the North Pacific , 2016 .

[7]  N. Gruber Elusive marine nitrogen fixation , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[8]  D. Capone,et al.  Low rates of nitrogen fixation in eastern tropical South Pacific surface waters , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  Samuel T. Wilson,et al.  Temporal variability of nitrogen fixation and particulate nitrogen export at Station ALOHA , 2016 .

[10]  J. Jeffrey Morris,et al.  Impact of ocean acidification on the structure of future phytoplankton communities , 2015 .

[11]  P. Thompson,et al.  Sources of new nitrogen in the Indian Ocean , 2015 .

[12]  D. Karl,et al.  Increasing anthropogenic nitrogen in the North Pacific Ocean , 2014, Science.

[13]  P. Landschützer,et al.  Recent variability of the global ocean carbon sink , 2014 .

[14]  Taro Takahashi,et al.  Climatological distributions of pH, pCO2, total CO2, alkalinity, and CaCO3 saturation in the global surface ocean, and temporal changes at selected locations , 2014 .

[15]  C. Pilskaln,et al.  Upward nitrate transport by phytoplankton in oceanic waters: balancing nutrient budgets in oligotrophic seas , 2014, PeerJ.

[16]  Stephanie Dutkiewicz,et al.  Iron, phosphorus, and nitrogen supply ratios define the biogeography of nitrogen fixation , 2013 .

[17]  M. Lomas,et al.  Two decades and counting: 24-years of sustained open ocean biogeochemical measurements in the Sargasso Sea , 2013 .

[18]  Béatrice Josse,et al.  Multi-model mean nitrogen and sulfur deposition from the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP): evaluation of historical and projected future changes , 2013 .

[19]  S. Doney,et al.  Data-based assessment of environmental controls on global marine nitrogen fixation , 2013 .

[20]  Jasper A. Vrugt,et al.  Strong latitudinal patterns in the elemental ratios of marine plankton and organic matter , 2013 .

[21]  Véronique Garçon,et al.  On the global estimates of geostrophic and Ekman surface currents , 2013 .

[22]  D. Vaulot,et al.  Unicellular Cyanobacterium Symbiotic with a Single-Celled Eukaryotic Alga , 2012, Science.

[23]  L. A. Anderson,et al.  Database of diazotrophs in global ocean: abundance, biomass and nitrogen fixation rates , 2012 .

[24]  R. Schmitz,et al.  Doubling of marine dinitrogen-fixation rates based on direct measurements , 2012, Nature.

[25]  Samuel T. Wilson,et al.  Comparative Assessment of Nitrogen Fixation Methodologies, Conducted in the Oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean , 2012, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[26]  H. Jeong,et al.  Increasing N Abundance in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean Due to Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition , 2011, Science.

[27]  David M. Karl,et al.  Nitrate supply from deep to near-surface waters of the North Pacific subtropical gyre , 2010, Nature.

[28]  Angelicque E. White,et al.  Unicellular Cyanobacterial Distributions Broaden the Oceanic N2 Fixation Domain , 2010, Science.

[29]  R. Feely,et al.  The universal ratio of boron to chlorinity for the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans , 2010 .

[30]  C. S. Wong,et al.  Climatological mean and decadal change in surface ocean pCO2, and net seaair CO2 flux over the global oceans , 2009 .

[31]  K. R. Arrigo,et al.  Impacts of Atmospheric Anthropogenic Nitrogen on the Open Ocean , 2008, Science.

[32]  J. Galloway,et al.  An Earth-system perspective of the global nitrogen cycle , 2008, Nature.

[33]  Nicholas R. Bates,et al.  Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms , 2007, Science.

[34]  M. Mulholland,et al.  The fate of nitrogen fixed by diazotrophs in the ocean , 2007 .

[35]  Nicolas Gruber,et al.  Spatial coupling of nitrogen inputs and losses in the ocean , 2007, Nature.

[36]  R. Feely,et al.  Global relationships of total alkalinity with salinity and temperature in surface waters of the world's oceans , 2006 .

[37]  Cabell S Davis,et al.  Transatlantic Abundance of the N2-Fixing Colonial Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium , 2006, Science.

[38]  Daniele Iudicone,et al.  Mixed layer depth over the global ocean: An examination of profile data and a profile-based climatology , 2004 .

[39]  Yoon-Seok Chang,et al.  Determination of diapycnal diffusion rates in the upper thermocline in the North Atlantic Ocean using sulfur hexafluoride , 2004 .

[40]  G. Asner,et al.  Nitrogen Cycles: Past, Present, and Future , 2004 .

[41]  D. Capone,et al.  Modeling the distribution of Trichodesmium and nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic Ocean , 2004 .

[42]  P. Quay,et al.  Surface layer carbon budget for the subtropical N , 2003 .

[43]  D. Karl,et al.  Global estimates of net carbon production in the nitrate‐depleted tropical and subtropical oceans , 2002 .

[44]  David M. Karl,et al.  Dinitrogen fixation in the world's oceans , 2002 .

[45]  H. Ducklow,et al.  Multiyear increases in dissolved organic matter inventories at Station ALOHA in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre , 2002 .

[46]  Kitack Lee Global net community production estimated from the annual cycle of surface water total dissolved inorganic carbon , 2001 .

[47]  R. Wanninkhof,et al.  Enhanced new production observed from the diurnal cycle of nitrate in an oligotrophic anticyclonic eddy , 2001 .

[48]  R. Feely,et al.  Global relationships of total inorganic carbon with temperature and nitrate in surface seawater , 2000 .

[49]  D. Capone,et al.  Answers sought to the enigma of marine nitrogen fixation , 2000 .

[50]  R. Feely,et al.  The recommended dissociation constants for carbonic acid in seawater , 2000 .

[51]  A. Watson,et al.  Mixing of a tracer in the pycnocline , 1998 .

[52]  T. D. Dickey,et al.  Influence of mesoscale eddies on new production in the Sargasso Sea , 1998, Nature.

[53]  C. D. Keeling,et al.  Carbon-13 constraints on the seasonal inorganic carbon budget at the BATS site in the northwestern Sargasso Sea , 1998 .

[54]  Nicolas Gruber,et al.  Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification , 1997 .

[55]  Edward J. Carpenter,et al.  Trichodesmium, a Globally Significant Marine Cyanobacterium , 1997 .

[56]  Paul G. Falkowski,et al.  Evolution of the nitrogen cycle and its influence on the biological sequestration of CO2 in the ocean , 1997, Nature.

[57]  F. Millero,et al.  THE RELIABILITY OF THE THERMODYNAMIC CONSTANTS FOR THE DISSOCIATION OF CARBONIC ACID IN SEAWATER , 1996 .

[58]  F. Millero,et al.  The chemistry of the anoxic waters in the Framvaren Fjord, Norway , 1995 .

[59]  C. Carlson,et al.  Carbon-cycle imbalances in the Sargasso Sea , 1994, Nature.

[60]  A. Dickson Thermodynamics of the dissociation of boric acid in synthetic seawater from 273.15 to 318.15 K , 1990 .

[61]  F. Millero,et al.  A comparison of the equilibrium constants for the dissociation of carbonic acid in seawater media , 1987 .

[62]  R. Weiss Carbon dioxide in water and seawater: the solubility of a non-ideal gas , 1974 .

[63]  C. Culberson,et al.  MEASUREMENT OF THE APPARENT DISSOCIATION CONSTANTS OF CARBONIC ACID IN SEAWATER AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE1 , 1973 .

[64]  P. Harrison,et al.  Temporal Studies of Biogeochemical Processes Determined from Ocean Time-Series Observations During the JGOFS Era , 2003 .

[65]  J. Gallon,et al.  A seasonal study of the significance of N2 fixation by Trichodesmium spp. at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site , 2001 .