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JPR Advance Access published online on September 30, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi074
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received February 25, 2005
Accepted September 26, 2005

Article

Growth and grazing losses of prokaryotes in the Central Atlantic Ocean

Evaristo Vázquez-Domínguez 1*, Josep M. Gasol 1, Susana Agustí 2, Carlos M. Duarte 2, and Dolors Vaqué 1

1 Institut de Ciències del Mar-CMIMA (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003-Barcelona, Spain
2 Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Miquel Marqués 21. 07190. Esporles, Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Evaristo Vázquez-Domínguez, E-mail: evazquez{at}icm.csic.es


  Abstract

The trophic relation between prokaryotes and heterotrophic nanoflagellates was studied during two latitudinal cruises in the Central Atlantic Ocean. The losses to predation on prokaryotes were determined in twelve locations covering a wide range of trophic situations, from ultra-oligotrophic (< 0.05 mg Chl a m-3) to moderately eutrophic waters (> 1 mg Chl a m-3). In these locations, the abundance of prokaryotes co-varies with that of heterotrophic nanoflagellates, thus suggesting that resources controlled the abundance of heterotrophic nanoflagellates. Besides, the losses to predation were positively related to prokaryotic and heterotrophic nanoflagellate biomass, which points towards higher consumption rates associated with larger concentrations of preys and predators. Conversely, declining trends between prokaryotic production and the fraction of this production lost to predation revealed higher relative losses in the environments with lower productions. Our study shows for the Central Atlantic that 35 % of prokaryotic biomass, equating to between 40 and 83 % of prokaryotic production can be ingested daily, and that 55 % of the variability observed in the rate of prokaryotic loss to predation was related with the abundance of heterotrophic nanoflagellates. As predators graze on many prey types, in an oligotrophic system containing many prey species but little numeric loading, there will still be prey for predators but not enough hosts for viruses. In this sense, our study confirms the importance of the prey-predator relationship between prokaryotes and heterotrophic nanoflagellates in the flow of carbon of the less productive regions of the ocean.

Communicating Editor: KJ Flynn
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