Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico
Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have been reported as a significant fraction of organic microgels in different oceans. No TEP data have been published for the California Current region off Baja California that indicate the potential contribution of this reservoir to the carbon budget. We mea...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Ciencias Marinas |
| Online Access: | https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/2732 |
| _version_ | 1827331026142101504 |
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| author | Cristian Hakspiel-Segura Ramón Cajal-Medrano Helmut Maske-Rubach Josué Villegas-Mendoza |
| author_facet | Cristian Hakspiel-Segura Ramón Cajal-Medrano Helmut Maske-Rubach Josué Villegas-Mendoza |
| author_sort | Cristian Hakspiel-Segura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have been reported as a significant fraction of organic microgels in different oceans. No TEP data have been published for the California Current region off Baja California that indicate the potential contribution of this reservoir to the carbon budget. We measured TEP in seawater samples, using the spectrophotometric method with alcian blue stain, and additional environmental and biological variables during 3 seasons at coastal stations between ~1.4 and 12.0 mi offshore, near 31ºN. Concentrations of TEP obtained with 0.45 µm pore size filters showed spatial and temporal distributions with a tendency to increase from offshore to nearshore and from winter to summer, respectively, ranging from undetectable values to 7.18 µg XG eq·mL–1 (median: 0.70). A significant positive correlation was observed between the concentration of TEP and bacterioplankton abundance (P < 0.05), and between total organic carbon and bacterioplankton abundance (P < 0.05). Transparent exopolymer particles also presented a negative correlation with community respiration (P < 0.05), suggesting that TEP provided a physical substrate for settlement of prokaryotic microorganisms but probably did not supply labile carbon. We compared the concentration of alcian blue stainable particles retained by the standard 0.45 µm pore size with the concentration obtained with 0.22 µm filters; the latter showed 1.7 to 64.0 fold (median: 4.1) higher TEP concentrations. This strong dependence of TEP concentration on pore size makes it difficult to define the quantitative contribution of TEP and their precursors to particulate organic matter and their role in the carbon cycle. Further studies on TEP in the Mexican portion of the California Current must corroborate the observed spatial and seasonal trends, and estimate a TEP-to-carbon conversion factor that provides a better approximation to its contribution to the regional carbon budget.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T16:27:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db9520ef0d814f9abe99e2d1b064d158 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0185-3880 2395-9053 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T16:27:01Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad Autónoma de Baja California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ciencias Marinas |
| spelling | doaj.art-db9520ef0d814f9abe99e2d1b064d1582024-03-03T17:43:43ZengUniversidad Autónoma de Baja CaliforniaCiencias Marinas0185-38802395-90532017-12-0143410.7773/cm.v43i4.2732Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, MexicoCristian Hakspiel-Segura0Ramón Cajal-Medrano1Helmut Maske-Rubach2Josué Villegas-Mendoza3Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California.Department of Biological Oceanography. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada.Department of Biological Oceanography. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada.Facultad de Ciencias Marinas. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have been reported as a significant fraction of organic microgels in different oceans. No TEP data have been published for the California Current region off Baja California that indicate the potential contribution of this reservoir to the carbon budget. We measured TEP in seawater samples, using the spectrophotometric method with alcian blue stain, and additional environmental and biological variables during 3 seasons at coastal stations between ~1.4 and 12.0 mi offshore, near 31ºN. Concentrations of TEP obtained with 0.45 µm pore size filters showed spatial and temporal distributions with a tendency to increase from offshore to nearshore and from winter to summer, respectively, ranging from undetectable values to 7.18 µg XG eq·mL–1 (median: 0.70). A significant positive correlation was observed between the concentration of TEP and bacterioplankton abundance (P < 0.05), and between total organic carbon and bacterioplankton abundance (P < 0.05). Transparent exopolymer particles also presented a negative correlation with community respiration (P < 0.05), suggesting that TEP provided a physical substrate for settlement of prokaryotic microorganisms but probably did not supply labile carbon. We compared the concentration of alcian blue stainable particles retained by the standard 0.45 µm pore size with the concentration obtained with 0.22 µm filters; the latter showed 1.7 to 64.0 fold (median: 4.1) higher TEP concentrations. This strong dependence of TEP concentration on pore size makes it difficult to define the quantitative contribution of TEP and their precursors to particulate organic matter and their role in the carbon cycle. Further studies on TEP in the Mexican portion of the California Current must corroborate the observed spatial and seasonal trends, and estimate a TEP-to-carbon conversion factor that provides a better approximation to its contribution to the regional carbon budget. https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/2732 |
| spellingShingle | Cristian Hakspiel-Segura Ramón Cajal-Medrano Helmut Maske-Rubach Josué Villegas-Mendoza Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico Ciencias Marinas |
| title | Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico |
| title_full | Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico |
| title_short | Temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of Baja California, Mexico |
| title_sort | temporal and spatial distribution of transparent exopolymer particles off the northern coast of baja california mexico |
| url | https://www.cienciasmarinas.com.mx/index.php/cmarinas/article/view/2732 |
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