Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/53073
Title: Nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium and small diazotrophs in the subtropical northeast Atlantic
Authors: Benavides, Mar
Agawin, Nona S. R.
Aristegui, Javier 
Ferriol, Pere 
Stal, Lucas J.
Keywords: Dissolved Organic Nitrogen
N-2 Fixation
Unicellular Cyanobacteria
Latitudinal Distribution
Dinitrogen Fixation, et al
Issue Date: 2011
Publisher: 0948-3055
Project: Intercambio Plataforma-Oceano en El Ecosistema Marino de Las Islas Canarias-Peninsula Iberica (Caibex):Afloramiento de Cabo Guir 
CYFOD (CTM2008-00915-E)
Journal: Aquatic Microbial Ecology 
Abstract: We measured gross and net nitrogen fixation in fractionated samples (organisms > 10 mu m and < 10 mu m), and the density of Trichodesmium, during a cruise along the northeast Atlantic boundary current system and during 2 mesoscale experiments in the upwelling systems of Cape Silleiro (northwest Iberia) and Cape Ghir (northwest Africa). The density of Trichodesmium (< 0.5 trichomes l(-1)) and its associated rates of nitrogen fixation (< 0.1 mu mol N m(-2) d(-1)) were low. Trichomes appeared to accumulate at frontal sites-such as upwelling filaments and the Azores Front. Gross and net rates of nitrogen fixation were always < 0.4 nmol N l(-1)d(-1) except off the northwest African coast where a gross nitrogen fixation peak of 0.98 nmol N l(-1) d(-1) was measured. The < 10 mu m fraction contributed more to both gross and net nitrogen fixation than did the > 10 mu m fraction in most of the areas studied. The < 10 mu m fraction was responsible for 70 to 92% of the total nitrogen fixation in cold nutrient-rich areas. The contribution of small diazotrophs to nitrogen fixation in the upwelling sites suggests that the distribution and activity of these organisms are more widespread than previously thought.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/53073
ISSN: 0948-3055
DOI: 10.3354/ame01534
Source: Aquatic Microbial Ecology[ISSN 0948-3055],v. 65 (1), p. 43-53
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