Modeled contributions of three types of diazotrophs to nitrogen fixation at Station ALOHA

Nicole L. Goebel, Christopher A. Edwards, Matthew J. Church, Jonathan P. Zehr

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

A diagnostic model based on biomass and growth was used to assess the relative contributions of filamentous nonheterocystous Trichodesmium and unicellular cyanobacteria, termed Groups A and B, to nitrogen fixation at the North Pacific Station ALOHA over a 2-year period. Average (and 95% confidence interval, CI) annual rates of modeled monthly values for Trichodesmium, Group B and Group A were 92 (52), 14 (4) and 12 (8) mmol N per m2 per year, respectively. The fractional contribution to modeled instantaneous nitrogen fixation by each diazotroph fluctuated on interannual, seasonal and shorter time scales. Trichodesmium fixed substantially more nitrogen in year 1 (162) than year 2 (12). Group B fixed almost two times more nitrogen in year 1 (17) than year 2 (9). In contrast, Group A fixed two times more nitrogen in year 2 (16) than year 1 (8). When including uncertainties in our estimates using the bootstrap approach, the range of unicellular nitrogen fixation extended from 10% to 68% of the total annual rate of nitrogen fixation for all three diazotrophs. Furthermore, on a seasonal basis, the model demonstrated that unicellular diazotrophs fixed the majority (51%-97%) of nitrogen during winter and spring, whereas Trichodesmium dominated nitrogen fixation during summer and autumn (60%-96%). Sensitivity of the modeled rates to some parameters suggests that this unique attempt to quantify relative rates of nitrogen fixation by different diazotrophs may need to be reevaluated as additional information on cell size, variability in biomass and C:N, and growth characteristics of the different cyanobacterial diazotrophs become available.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)606-619
Number of pages14
JournalISME Journal
Volume1
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2007

Keywords

  • Crocosphaera
  • Cyanobacteria
  • Diazotroph
  • Group A
  • Group B
  • Nitrogen fixation
  • Trichodesmium

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