Nitrogen uptake, dissolved organic nitrogen release, and new production

Deborah A. Bronk, Patricia M. Gilbert, Bess B. Ward

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

377 Scopus citations

Abstract

In oceanic, coastal, and estuarine environments, an average of 25 to 41 percent of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (NH4+ and NO3-) taken up by phytoplankton is released as dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Release rates for DON in oceanic systems range from 4 to 26 nanogram-atoms of nitrogen per liter per hour. Failure to account for the production of DON during nitrogen-15 uptake experiments results in an underestimate of gross nitrogen uptake rates and thus an underestimate of new and regenerated production. In these studies, traditional nitrogen-15 techniques were found to underestimate new and regenerated production by up to 74 and 50 percent, respectively. Total DON turnover times, estimated from DON release resulting trom both NH4+ and NO3- uptake, were 10 ± 1, 18 ± 14, and 4 days for oceanic, coastal, and estuarine sites, respectively.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1843-1846
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume265
Issue number5180
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 23 1994
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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