Limnology and Oceanography最新文献

Marine life is threatened by global warming and its indirect consequences, which include, among others, increased stratification leading to phosphorus (P) and nitrogen depletion in the upper water column. Phosphorus plays a key role in all biochemical systems; storage of metabolic energy, formation of genetic material, and subcellular compartmentalization. Our multi-year study of lipid biogeochemistry in the northern Adriatic (Mediterranean), which is becoming warmer and nutrient-poorer, particularly regarding P, has shown that under conditions of P scarcity, phospholipids are relatively more abundant and smaller plankton cells dominate. Consistent with the field data, experiments with seven phytoplankton monocultures, comprising microplankton, nanoplankton, and picoplankton, confirmed a relatively higher phospholipid content in the smaller phytoplankton species and, in particular, an increase in those grown under stress conditions in general, including, unexpectedly, P-limitation. We suggest two reasons for the observed “P paradox” of P-limited phytoplankton: (1) cell geometry: volume of the plasma membrane relative to the volume of the entire cell is greater in smaller cells and, therefore, the proportion of plasma membrane phospholipids to intracellular lipids is greater in smaller cells, (2) higher proportion of densely packed saturated fatty acids found in stressful conditions, including P oligotrophy, additionally increase the proportion of membrane phospholipids relative to intracellular lipids. Our findings contribute to the understanding of P cycling in the sea. In addition, our data suggest that higher phospholipid export to deep waters is possible by smaller plankton.

The inflow of warm and nutrient-rich Pacific Water (PW) through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the ecosystem and biogenic sulfur cycle in the Earth's sensitive subarctic–arctic region of the Pacific sector, even impacting climate change under global warming scenarios. We performed a detailed biogeochemical study of summer biogenic sulfur cycling from cold (2012) to warm (2014) years in the Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea, so as to highlight the importance of enhanced Pacific inflow in driving dimethylsulfide (DMS) variability. In the Bering Strait, the enhanced Pacific inflow led to the vertical expansion of the eastern high-DMS regions due to the vertical extension of Alaska Coastal Water, and the horizontal expansion of the western surface high-DMS regions due to the westward intrusion of Bering Shelf Water. The enhanced extension of PW potentially stimulated seawater warming, the northward retreat of the ice edge, and the enlargement of sea ice-free areas in the Chukchi Sea. The northern ice melting zone at 71°N with a bloom of phytoplankton was an area of locally high dimethylsulfoniopropionate concentrations and slow DMS consumption in 2012. A hotspot for dimethylated sulfur compound concentrations and DMS sea–air flux occurred in the convergence region near 67.7°N during 2014, due to enhanced mixing caused by increased Bering Sea Water. Owing to the increased advection of PW during 2012–2014, surface DMS and its emission to the atmosphere increased sharply by threefold in the Chukchi Sea.

Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a widespread phenomenon in aquatic environments. The primary hypothesis explaining DVM is the predation-avoidance hypothesis, which suggests that zooplankton migrate to deeper waters to avoid detection during daylight. Copepods are the predominant mesozooplankton undergoing these migrations; however, they display massive morphological variation. Visual risk also depends on a copepod's morphology. In this study, we investigate hypotheses related to morphology and DVM: (H1) as size increases visual risk, increases in body size will increase DVM magnitude and (H2) if copepod transparency can reduce visual risk, increases in transparency will reduce DVM magnitude. In situ copepod images were collected across several cruises in the Sargasso Sea using an Underwater Vision Profiler 5. Copepod morphology was characterized from these images and a dimension reduction approach. Although in situ imaging offers challenges for quantifying mesozooplankton behavior, we introduce a robust method for quantifying DVM. The results show a clear relationship in which larger copepods have a larger DVM signal. Darker copepods also have a larger DVM signal, however, only among the largest group of copepods and not smaller ones. These findings highlight the complexity of copepod morphology and DVM behavior.

Phytoplankton are responsible for about 90% of the oceanic primary production, largely supporting marine food webs, and actively contributing to the biogeochemical cycling of carbon. Yet, increasing temperature and pCO₂, along with higher dissolved nitrogen: phosphorus ratios in coastal waters are likely to impact phytoplankton physiology, especially in terms of photosynthetic rate, respiration, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production. Here, we conducted a full-factorial experiment to identify the individual and combined effects of temperature, pCO₂, and N : P ratio on the antioxidant capacity and carbon metabolism of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Our results demonstrate that, among these three drivers, temperature is the most influential factor on the physiology of this species, with warming causing oxidative stress and lower activity of antioxidant enzymes. Furthermore, the photosynthetic rate was higher under warmer conditions and higher pCO₂, and, together with a lower dark respiration rate and higher DOC exudation, generated cells with lower carbon content. An enhanced oceanic CO₂ uptake and an overall stimulated microbial loop benefiting from higher DOC exudation are potential longer-term consequences of rising temperatures, elevated pCO₂ as well as shifted dissolved N : P ratios.

Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) are bacterial lipids that can be preserved in sedimentary archives for tens of millions of years and are ubiquitous in diverse environments, including cold seep systems. Their potential implications for detecting methane activity in deep time are, however, hampered by the multiple sources of brGDGTs in cold seeps and the lack of evidence of their stable carbon isotopes. Here, we show that brGDGTs in cold seeps are characterized by depleted stable carbon isotopic compositions of the alkyl moieties (δ¹³C = −32.9‰ to −82.7‰), indicating a methane metabolizing community origin, which is supported by the association between 16S rRNA genes and brGDGTs. We further identify unique seep-derived brGDGT signals from the global published dataset by a tree-based machine-learning algorithm. This trained model, named light gradient-boosting machine classification for paleoSEEP (GBM_SEEP), is further applied on a paleorecord across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which suggests potential methane emission events during the PETM recovery phase. Collectively, our study links brGDGT production in cold seeps with methane metabolizing communities and provides a potential strategy to capture significant methane emission events using the machine-learning model, which warrants further investigation.

Octocorals represent a major alternative group in the benthic community of reefs that have diverged from hexacoral dominance. Despite their phototrophic symbionts, supplementing their diet with heterotrophic sources may promote their growth, particularly when compared to hexacorals in bleaching conditions. However, limited comprehensive data exists on octocorals' trophic ecology, especially regarding their ability to feed on dissolved organic matter (DOM), which comprises the largest pool of organic matter in reefs. This study aims to investigate the ability of two octocorals (Sarcophyton glaucum and Lobophytum sp.) to feed on DOM and compare this ability to that of hexacorals, such as Stylophora pistillata and Turbinaria reniformis. The study measured the net fluxes of DOM under varying DOM concentrations and under heat stress. The results demonstrate that all coral species were net producers of DOM at ambient concentrations, but became net consumers once seawater was supplemented with DOM. Furthermore, our study highlights a relationship between coral physiological responses to heat stress and DOM uptake. Corals that increased (S. pistillata) or maintained (S. glaucum and Lobophytum sp.) their DOM uptake rates at high temperature were the most resilient to heat stress. In contrast, T. reniformis exhibited lower DOM uptake rates at high temperatures, which was associated with significant bleaching. Understanding the ability of corals to feed on DOM may, therefore, provide insight into the resilience of species under ocean warming conditions.