The impact of trophic interactions on rates of nitrogen regeneration and grazing in Chesapeake Bay

Miller, Colin; Penry, Deborah L.; Glibert, Patricia M.

doi:10.4319/lo.1995.40.5.1005

Cited by 53 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…However, the relatively important role of microzooplankton as primary consumers in more productive waters is somewhat surprising because large zooplankton have traditionally been considered the major grazers in such regions. Because they can grow and divide as rapidly as phytoplankton cells, protistan microherbivores derive considerable advantage over larger metazoans in their ability to exploit ephemeral changes in food availability (e.g., Miller et al 1995). Their grazing pressure is thus better coupled to production processes relative to slow-responding metazoans.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton growth, microzooplankton grazing, and carbon cycling in marine systems

Calbet

Landry

2004

Limnology & Oceanography

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We present an analysis of the global impact of microplanktonic grazers on marine phytoplankton and its implications for remineralization processes in the microbial community. The data were obtained by an extensive literature search that yielded 788 paired rate estimates of autotrophic growth () and microzooplankton grazing (m) from dilution experiments. From studies in which phytoplankton standing stock was measured in terms of carbon equivalents, we show that the production estimate from dilution experiments is a reasonable proxy (r ϭ 0.89) for production determined by the standard 14 C method. The ratio m : , the proportion of primary production (PP) consumed by micrograzers, shows that microzooplankton consumption is the main source of phytoplankton mortality in the oceans, accounting for 67% of phytoplankton daily growth for the full data set. This ratio varies modestly among various marine habitats and regions, with data averages ranging from 60% for coastal and estuarine environments to 70% for the open oceans, and from ϳ59% for temperate-subpolar and polar systems to 75% for tropical-subtropical regions. Given estimates for the metabolic requirements of micrograzers and assuming they consume most bacterial production, regionally averaged estimates of the protistan respiration are 35-43% of daily PP for the first level of consumer or 49-59% of PP for three trophic transfers. The estimated contributions of microbial grazers to total community respiration are of the same magnitude as bacterial respiration. Consequently, potential ecosystem differences in micrograzer activity or trophic structure are a large uncertainty for biogeochemical models that seek to predict the microbial community role in carbon cycling from bacterial parameters alone.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton growth, microzooplankton grazing, and carbon cycling in marine systems

Calbet

Landry

2004

Limnology & Oceanography

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721

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“…This phototrophic ciliate not only prolongs the autotrophic production in the nutrient-depleted surface layer but also acts as an important food supply to other organisms (e.g., Park et al, 2006;Fileman et al, 2007;Lee et al, 2014; Figure 6). Also, the excretion of nutrients through mineralization and cell explosion can be a significant source of nitrogen (Lindholm, 1985;Miller et al, 1995) to phytoplankton species present in the surface layer community. High nitrate and phosphate assimilation rates reported in previous studies (Dugdale et al, 1987;Jiang, 2011;Tong et al, 2015), support the assumption that inorganic nitrogen available in spring-summer continuum, either brought close to the surface through pycnocline rise or from adjacent areas, will be mostly assimilated by dominating M. rubrum if the other environmental conditions support its growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Mesodinium rubrum at Post-Spring Bloom Nutrient and Phytoplankton Dynamics in the Vertically Stratified Baltic Sea

Lips

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The inter-annual dynamics of the photosynthetic ciliate Mesodinium rubrum in the central Gulf of Finland in spring-summer continuum during 5 years were followed. The analysis was mainly based on high-resolution measurements and sampling in the surface layer along the ferry route Tallinn-Helsinki. The main purpose was to analyze the dynamics of M. rubrum biomass, its contribution to the photosynthetic plankton biomass, and the influence of water temperature and variations of inorganic nutrients in the surface and sub-surface layer on its dynamics. The analysis revealed that the outcome of the M. rubrum bloom in spring was largely related to the surface layer water temperature-in the years of earlier warming, the higher biomass of this species was formed. The photosynthetic ciliate was an important primary producer in all studied years during the late phase or post-spring bloom period in the Gulf of Finland. The maximum proportion of M. rubrum in the photosynthetic plankton community was estimated up to 88% in May and up to 91% in June. We relate the observed post-spring bloom decrease of phosphate concentrations in the surface layer to the dominance and growth of M. rubrum. We suggest that this link can be explained by the vertical migration behavior of M. rubrum and phosphate utilization in the surface layer coupled with inorganic nitrogen assimilation in the sub-surface layer. Thus, the dynamics of M. rubrum could strongly influence the amount of post-spring bloom excess PO 3− 4 in the euphotic layer and the depth of nitracline in the Gulf of Finland.

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“…However, pelagic marine bacteria principally degrade all autochthonous nitrogen compounds (Schut et al 1997), and once nitrogen is bound in bacterial biomass it IS rapidly regenerated by bactenvorous flagellates (Goldman & Dennett 1991, Miller et al 1995. The bacterivorous grazers also effectively control the abundance of bacteria in oligotrophic environments (Ander-sen & Fenchel 1985, Berninger et al 1991; the bacterivorous nitrogen regeneration may therefore substantially increase the recycling efficiency through mineralisation of organic nitrogen that is lost from the herbivorous regeneration cycle.…”

Section: Recycling Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Microzooplankton grazing and nitrogen supply of phytoplankton growth in the temperate and subtropical northeast Atlantic

Gaul¹,

Antia²,

Koeve³

1999

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Serial dllution experiments were conducted on JGOFS-North Atlantic cruise of RV 'Meteor' M36/2 at a 20" W transect in June and July 1996 to assess the role of m~crozooplankton grazing and nitrogen supply in controlling phytoplankton stocks in the subtropical and temperate northeast Atlantic. Rates of m~crozooplankton grazing ranged from 0. sources in nitrate-rich waters of the muted layer at 54" N and at the nitracline at 47" N, whereas nitrogen regeneration dominated at the nitrate-depleted surface waters at 47" N. However, In the deep chlorophyll maxlma at 33" N and 40" Y phytoplankton growth was primarily maintained by n~t r o g e n regeneration, although external nitrogen was sufficiently available. The recycling efficiency of the microb~al community was d e f~n e d as the ratio of regenerated growth yield to herbivorous grazing loss. Efficiencies of -100":1 under post-bloom situations indicated tight coupling of predation, nitrogen supply and phytoplankton growth. We suggest that n~icrozooplankton grazing has a high potential for nitrogen supply and biomass control of phytoplankton communities during summer in the temperate and subtropical northeast Atlantic.

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The impact of trophic interactions on rates of nitrogen regeneration and grazing in Chesapeake Bay

Cited by 53 publications

References 16 publications

Phytoplankton growth, microzooplankton grazing, and carbon cycling in marine systems

Phytoplankton growth, microzooplankton grazing, and carbon cycling in marine systems

The Importance of Mesodinium rubrum at Post-Spring Bloom Nutrient and Phytoplankton Dynamics in the Vertically Stratified Baltic Sea

Microzooplankton grazing and nitrogen supply of phytoplankton growth in the temperate and subtropical northeast Atlantic

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