Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios
Abstract The carbon to nitrogen (CN) ratio of phytoplankton connects the carbon and nitrogen cycles in the ocean. Any variation in this ratio under climate change will alter the amount of carbon fixed by photosynthesis, and ultimately the amount sequestered in the ocean. However, a consistent mechan...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10304 |
| _version_ | 1797821926333218816 |
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| author | Yoshio Masuda Yasuhiro Yamanaka Sherwood Lan Smith Takafumi Hirata Hideyuki Nakano Akira Oka Hiroshi Sumata Maki Noguchi Aita |
| author_facet | Yoshio Masuda Yasuhiro Yamanaka Sherwood Lan Smith Takafumi Hirata Hideyuki Nakano Akira Oka Hiroshi Sumata Maki Noguchi Aita |
| author_sort | Yoshio Masuda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The carbon to nitrogen (CN) ratio of phytoplankton connects the carbon and nitrogen cycles in the ocean. Any variation in this ratio under climate change will alter the amount of carbon fixed by photosynthesis, and ultimately the amount sequestered in the ocean. However, a consistent mechanistic explanation remains lacking for observed species‐specific variations in phytoplankton CN ratios. We show that acclimation to ambient environmental conditions explains the observed variation of phytoplankton CN ratios by incorporating phytoplankton acclimation theory based on a resource allocation trade‐off between carbon vs. nitrogen acquisition capacity into a three‐dimensional marine ecosystem model. Inter‐specific differences in CN ratio and its sensitivity are caused by inter‐specific differences in Droop's minimum nitrogen cell quota. Our model, constrained by observed phytoplankton parameters, shows that the global mean phytoplankton CN ratio is greater than the canonical Redfield ratio, as suggested previously based on regional in situ observations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:59:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8eb6023c58a042e3925d887480fa1c9f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2378-2242 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:59:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8eb6023c58a042e3925d887480fa1c9f2023-05-23T06:01:27ZengWileyLimnology and Oceanography Letters2378-22422023-06-018351952810.1002/lol2.10304Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratiosYoshio Masuda0Yasuhiro Yamanaka1Sherwood Lan Smith2Takafumi Hirata3Hideyuki Nakano4Akira Oka5Hiroshi Sumata6Maki Noguchi Aita7Faculty of Environmental Earth Science Hokkaido University Sapporo JapanFaculty of Environmental Earth Science Hokkaido University Sapporo JapanJapan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology Yokosuka Kanagawa JapanArctic Research Center, Hokkaido University Sapporo JapanMeteorological Research Institute Ibaraki JapanDivision of Climate System Research The University of Tokyo Chiba JapanNorwegian Polar institute Tromsø NorwayJapan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology Yokosuka Kanagawa JapanAbstract The carbon to nitrogen (CN) ratio of phytoplankton connects the carbon and nitrogen cycles in the ocean. Any variation in this ratio under climate change will alter the amount of carbon fixed by photosynthesis, and ultimately the amount sequestered in the ocean. However, a consistent mechanistic explanation remains lacking for observed species‐specific variations in phytoplankton CN ratios. We show that acclimation to ambient environmental conditions explains the observed variation of phytoplankton CN ratios by incorporating phytoplankton acclimation theory based on a resource allocation trade‐off between carbon vs. nitrogen acquisition capacity into a three‐dimensional marine ecosystem model. Inter‐specific differences in CN ratio and its sensitivity are caused by inter‐specific differences in Droop's minimum nitrogen cell quota. Our model, constrained by observed phytoplankton parameters, shows that the global mean phytoplankton CN ratio is greater than the canonical Redfield ratio, as suggested previously based on regional in situ observations.https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10304 |
| spellingShingle | Yoshio Masuda Yasuhiro Yamanaka Sherwood Lan Smith Takafumi Hirata Hideyuki Nakano Akira Oka Hiroshi Sumata Maki Noguchi Aita Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios Limnology and Oceanography Letters |
| title | Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| title_full | Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| title_fullStr | Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| title_short | Acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| title_sort | acclimation by diverse phytoplankton species determines oceanic carbon to nitrogen ratios |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10304 |
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