The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom

Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom
Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom
Plankton dark community respiration (DCR), gross production (GP), bacterial production, protozoan herbivory, and phytoplankton, microzooplankton and heterotrophic bacterial abundance were measured during a bloom of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. The study, which was conducted in the northern North Sea during June 1999, included a spatial survey and a 6-day Lagrangian time series informed by a sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer-release experiment. E. huxleyi abundance in surface waters ranged from 380 to 3000 cells ml?1, while DCR varied between 2 and 4 mmol O2 m?3 d?1 and GP between 2 and 5 mmol O2 m?3 d?1. Euphotic zone integrated DCR and GP were in approximate balance, with a mean (±SD) P:R ratio of 0.9±0.4 (n=9). However, highest GP occurred at the surface alongside maxima of E. huxleyi, whereas highest rates of DCR occurred at depths of 25–30 m associated with maxima in chlorophyll a and bacterial biomass. DCR was positively correlated with bacterial biomass, microzooplankton biomass, attenuance, particulate organic carbon, and chlorophyll a concentration; and negatively correlated with apparent oxygen utilisation. DCR was not correlated with in situ temperature, dissolved organic carbon concentration or E. huxleyi abundance. A100 h incubation of 0.8 ?m filtered seawater enabled the estimation of a bacterial respiratory quotient (RQ) and growth efficiency (BGE) from the slopes of the linear regressions of the decrease in dissolved oxygen and increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and bacterial carbon with time. During this experiment the bacterial RQ was 0.69 and the growth efficiency was 18%. This measured BGE was used in comparison with literature values to apportion DCR to that associated with bacterial (13–71%), microzooplankton (10–50%), and algal (11–28%) activity. This accounting exercise compared well with measured DCR (to within ±50%), the exact calculation being highly dependent on the BGE used.
0967-0645
2929-2950
Robinson, Carol
aa5b407d-ce1d-4706-a7ce-e2ee4c832071
Widdicombe, Claire E.
43b3ea18-b072-4f05-bda8-58a79aaf82ce
Zubkov, Mikhail V.
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Tarran, Glen A.
218a9233-a6ae-4d0c-a9ca-35ad0d5a35f7
Miller, Axel E. J.
a63d7c44-1068-473d-be07-0df2a2b777fb
Rees, Andrew P.
5971ea8f-f7ee-4556-b8b2-8ffc4b52d2c5
Robinson, Carol
aa5b407d-ce1d-4706-a7ce-e2ee4c832071
Widdicombe, Claire E.
43b3ea18-b072-4f05-bda8-58a79aaf82ce
Zubkov, Mikhail V.
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Tarran, Glen A.
218a9233-a6ae-4d0c-a9ca-35ad0d5a35f7
Miller, Axel E. J.
a63d7c44-1068-473d-be07-0df2a2b777fb
Rees, Andrew P.
5971ea8f-f7ee-4556-b8b2-8ffc4b52d2c5

Robinson, Carol, Widdicombe, Claire E., Zubkov, Mikhail V., Tarran, Glen A., Miller, Axel E. J. and Rees, Andrew P. (2002) Plankton community respiration during a coccolithophore bloom. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 49 (15), 2929-2950. (doi:10.1016/S0967-0645(02)00064-4).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Plankton dark community respiration (DCR), gross production (GP), bacterial production, protozoan herbivory, and phytoplankton, microzooplankton and heterotrophic bacterial abundance were measured during a bloom of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. The study, which was conducted in the northern North Sea during June 1999, included a spatial survey and a 6-day Lagrangian time series informed by a sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer-release experiment. E. huxleyi abundance in surface waters ranged from 380 to 3000 cells ml?1, while DCR varied between 2 and 4 mmol O2 m?3 d?1 and GP between 2 and 5 mmol O2 m?3 d?1. Euphotic zone integrated DCR and GP were in approximate balance, with a mean (±SD) P:R ratio of 0.9±0.4 (n=9). However, highest GP occurred at the surface alongside maxima of E. huxleyi, whereas highest rates of DCR occurred at depths of 25–30 m associated with maxima in chlorophyll a and bacterial biomass. DCR was positively correlated with bacterial biomass, microzooplankton biomass, attenuance, particulate organic carbon, and chlorophyll a concentration; and negatively correlated with apparent oxygen utilisation. DCR was not correlated with in situ temperature, dissolved organic carbon concentration or E. huxleyi abundance. A100 h incubation of 0.8 ?m filtered seawater enabled the estimation of a bacterial respiratory quotient (RQ) and growth efficiency (BGE) from the slopes of the linear regressions of the decrease in dissolved oxygen and increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and bacterial carbon with time. During this experiment the bacterial RQ was 0.69 and the growth efficiency was 18%. This measured BGE was used in comparison with literature values to apportion DCR to that associated with bacterial (13–71%), microzooplankton (10–50%), and algal (11–28%) activity. This accounting exercise compared well with measured DCR (to within ±50%), the exact calculation being highly dependent on the BGE used.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2002

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 59220
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/59220
ISSN: 0967-0645
PURE UUID: 84b2d226-edcb-4a28-9bac-94308e34cef6

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Aug 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 11:14

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Carol Robinson
Author: Claire E. Widdicombe
Author: Mikhail V. Zubkov
Author: Glen A. Tarran
Author: Axel E. J. Miller
Author: Andrew P. Rees

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×