Abstract
Abstract. Studies investigating the fate of diazotrophs through the microbial food web are lacking, although N2 fixation can fuel up to 50 % of new production in some oligotrophic oceans. In particular, the role played by heterotrophic prokaryotes in this transfer is largely unknown. In the frame of the VAHINE (VAriability of vertical and tropHIc transfer of diazotroph derived N in the south wEst Pacific) experiment, three replicate large-volume (∼ 50 m3) mesocosms were deployed for 23 days in the new Caledonia lagoon and were intentionally fertilized on day 4 with dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) to stimulate N2 fixation. We specifically examined relationships between heterotrophic bacterial production (BP) and N2 fixation or primary production, determined bacterial growth efficiency and established carbon budgets. BP was statistically higher during the second phase of the experiment (P2: days 15–23), when chlorophyll biomass started to increase compared to the first phase (P1: days 5–14). Phosphatase alkaline activity increased drastically during the second phase of the experiment, showing adaptations of microbial populations after utilization of the added DIP. Notably, among autotrophs, Synechococcus abundances increased during P2, possibly related to its capacity to assimilate leucine and to produce alkaline phosphatase. Bacterial growth efficiency based on the carbon budget (27–43 %), was notably higher than generally cited for oligotrophic environments and discussed in links with the presence of abundant species of bacteria expressing proteorhodopsin. The main fates of gross primary production (particulate + dissolved) were respiration (67 %) and export through sedimentation (17 %). BP was highly correlated with particulate primary production and chlorophyll biomass during both phases of the experiment but was slightly correlated, and only during P2 phase, with N2 fixation rates. Heterotrophic bacterial production was strongly stimulated after mineral N enrichment experiments, suggesting N-limitation of heterotrophic bacteria across the experiment. N2 fixation rates corresponded to 17–37 % of the nitrogen demand of heterotrophic bacteria. Our results suggest that most of the diazotroph-derived nitrogen fuelled the heterotrophic bacterial community through indirect processes generating dissolved organic matter and detritus, like mortality, lysis and grazing of both diazotrophs and non-diazotrophs.
Highlights
In the south-west Pacific ocean, the natural occurrence of abundant and diverse plankton taxa capable of dinitrogen (N2) fixation (N2-fixing or diazotrophic organisms; e.g., Moisander et al, 2010) can fuel ∼ 50 % of new primary production (Garcia et al, 2007; Bonnet et al, 2015)
No vertical stratification was observed in the mesocosms for bacterial production or alkaline phosphatase activity (APA; see exemplary data for M1 in Supplement Fig. S1) as for most of the parameters (Bonnet et al, 2016b; Turk-Kubo et al, 2015; Berthelot et al, 2015)
This study confirms that in the Nouméa lagoon, N2 fixation is a relevant process for fuelling the microbial food web and sustaining a biological system which is net autotrophic or close to metabolic balance
Summary
In the south-west Pacific ocean, the natural occurrence of abundant and diverse plankton taxa capable of dinitrogen (N2) fixation (N2-fixing or diazotrophic organisms; e.g., Moisander et al, 2010) can fuel ∼ 50 % of new primary production (Garcia et al, 2007; Bonnet et al, 2015). In the central gyre of the South Pacific, where N2 fixation is lower than in the south-west Pacific, nitrogen is the first element limiting growth of both phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacterioplankton as observed in short-term nutrient enrichment experiments (Bonnet et al, 2008; Van Wambeke et al, 2008a) or incubations with 15Nleucine or 15N-NH+4 , which significantly enhanced bicarbonate uptake (Halm et al, 2012). Such competition for nitrogen influences dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface layers and export. As blooms of diazotrophs are transient events, the production of varying sources and quality of organic matter is expected, which may influence biogeochemical fluxes, in particular heterotrophic bacterial production
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