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JPR Advance Access originally published online on February 8, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research 2007 29(4):369-376; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm022
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Nitrogen uptake by heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton in Arctic surface waters

E. Fouilland1,2,*, M. Gosselin3, R. B. Rivkin4, C. Vasseur3 and B. Mostajir1,2

1 Écosystèmes Lagunaires, CNRS-UMR 5119, Université Montpellier II, Case 093, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 2 CNRS-GDR 2476 Reseaux Trophiques Aquatiques, Case 093, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 3 Nstitut Des Sciences De La Mer De Rimouski (Ismer), Université du Québec À Rimouski, 310 Allée Des Ursulines, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1, Canada 4 Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland A1C 5S7, Canada

* Corresponding author: eric.fouilland{at}univ-montp2.fr

Received on November 14, 2006; accepted on January 30, 2007


  Abstract

We estimated rates of heterotrophic bacterial and phytoplankton uptake of nitrate, ammonium, and urea using 15N-labelled nitrogen and specific metabolic inhibitors of prokaryote and eukaryote nitrogen metabolism in the surface waters of the North Water (northern Baffin Bay) during autumn that were characterized by the absence of cyanobacteria (comprising prochlorophytes). The percentage of nitrate + ammonium uptake by heterotrophic bacteria ranged between 44 and 78% of the measured total uptake and was the highest when the phytoplankton biomass was relatively low (<2 µg Chlorophyll a L–1). Phytoplankton accounted for a larger fraction (e.g., 58–95%) of urea uptake than heterotrophic bacteria. When our results are combined with those from previous studies carried out in diverse temperate and polar areas, it appears that heterotrophic bacteria account for ~25% (14–40%; median and interquartile range) of the total nitrate uptake in surface waters with chlorophyll biomass <2 µg L–1. Estimates of new production computed from phytoplankton carbon uptake and f-ratios may be strongly overestimated in regions where nitrate uptake by heterotrophic bacteria is high and the biomass of phytoplankton is low.

Communicating editor: R.P. Harris


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