Journal Article10.1038/NATURE02550
Iron and phosphorus co-limit nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North Atlantic
963
TL;DR: The results support the hypothesis that aeolian mineral dust deposition promotes nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North Atlantic and show that community primary productivity was nitrogen-limited, and that nitrogen fixation was co-limited by iron and phosphorus.
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Abstract: The role of iron in enhancing phytoplankton productivity in high nutrient, low chlorophyll oceanic regions was demonstrated first through iron-addition bioassay experiments1 and subsequently confirmed by large-scale iron fertilization experiments2. Iron supply has been hypothesized to limit nitrogen fixation and hence oceanic primary productivity on geological timescales3, providing an alternative to phosphorus as the ultimate limiting nutrient4. Oceanographic observations have been interpreted both to confirm and refute this hypothesis5, 6, but direct experimental evidence is lacking7. We conducted experiments to test this hypothesis during the Meteor 55 cruise to the tropical North Atlantic. This region is rich in diazotrophs8 and strongly impacted by Saharan dust input9. Here we show that community primary productivity was nitrogen-limited, and that nitrogen fixation was co-limited by iron and phosphorus. Saharan dust addition stimulated nitrogen fixation, presumably by supplying both iron and phosphorus10, 11. Our results support the hypothesis that aeolian mineral dust deposition promotes nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical North Atlantic.
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Citations
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The potential impact of Saharan dust and polluted aerosols on microbial populations in the East Mediterranean Sea, an overview of a mesocosm experimental approach.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the first mesocosm experimental study that examines the overall response of the oligotrophic EMS surface mixed layer (Cretan Sea, May 2012) to two different types of natural aerosol additions, "pure" Saharan dust (SD, 1.6 mg l-1) and mixed aerosols (A - polluted and desert origin, 1 mg l -1).
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