Decoupled growth and grazing rates of diatoms and green algae drive increased phytoplankton productivity on HNLC sub‐Antarctic plateaux

Abstract

The combination of iron limitation and microzooplankton grazing controls phytoplankton productivity and taxonomic composition in high‐nutrient low‐chlorophyll (HNLC) regions. While increased productivity and diatom contribution triggered by iron enrichment support this view, direct measurements of underpinning group‐specific growth and grazing rates are scarce for the Southern Ocean. To assess these rates, we conducted dilution experiments coupled to high‐performance liquid chromatography and flow‐cytometry in sub‐Antarctic waters on and off Campbell Plateau, southeast of Aotearoa‐New Zealand. Off the plateau, growth and grazing were closely balanced for all groups despite a two‐fold difference between slow‐ and fast‐growing groups. On Campbell Plateau, where HNLC conditions were alleviated, the balance was disrupted, mainly by the preferential growth of diatoms and green algae, which was stimulated beyond grazing. Our results expand the recognized ability of diatoms to escape grazing control to picoplanktonic green algae that also avoid grazing and contribute significantly to phytoplankton productivity and biomass accumulation.

Phago-mixotrophy of small eukaryotic phytoplankton might alleviate iron limitation in HNLC Southern Ocean

“…In ST and coastal SA-Sc cycles, the picoeukaryotic community was dominated by Mamiellophyceae ( Bathycoccus , Micromonas and Ostreococcus ) while in oceanic SA cycles, the community was co-represented by reads belonging to mixotrophic taxa of Prymnesiophyceae and Chrysophyceae in addition to the phototrophic taxa Mamiellophyceae and Pelagophyceae (Figure 5A,B). These mixotrophic taxa are abundant in HNLC SO region, and known to be adapted to low iron conditions (Gutiérrez-Rodríguez et al 2023; Irion et al 2020; Thiele et al 2014).…”