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JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 9 | NUMBER 6 | PAGES 1047-1056 | 1987
© Oxford University Press

research-article

Validity of N2 fixation rate measurements in marine Oscillatoria (Trichodesmium)

Edward J. Carpenter, Mary I. Scranton, Paul C. Novelli and Anthony Michaels1

1Division of Natural Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York Stony Brook, NY 11794

Received on August 12, 1986; accepted on March 26, 1987 No measurable differences in Trichodesmium nitrogenase activity were observed between colonies collected by diving and incubated under ultra-clean conditions compared with those collected and incubated using standard techniques. Measurements were made in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, near the Bahama Islands and in the Sargasso Sea. Surprisingly, mean rates of ethylene production were high relative to most previous in situ measurements on Trichodesmium. The calculated cellular N doubling times (via N2 fixation) ranged from 1.13 days in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, 1.48 days in the Sargasso Sea to 1.8 days near the Bahama Islands. A comparison of these doubling times with those in the literature illustrates the high variability in rate of N2 fixation by Trichodesmium. From this study, we conclude that the often observed slow rates of N2 fixation are valid. Populations of Trichodesmium can probably remain within the water column at low growth rates via gas vesicles, which keep the colony suspended, and low grazing rates by herbivores.


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E. J. CARPENTER and K. ROMANS
Major Role of the Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium in Nutrient Cycling in the North Atlantic Ocean
Science, November 29, 1991; 254(5036): 1356 - 1358.
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