Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean

Pablo Serret; Carol Robinson; Maria Aranguren-Gassis; E. Elena Garcia-Martin; Niki Gist; Vassilis Kitidis; Jose Lozano; John Stephens; Carolyn Harris; Rob Thomas

doi:10.1038/ncomms7961

Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean

Pablo Serret, Carol Robinson, Maria Aranguren-Gassis, E. Elena Garcia-Martin, Niki Gist, Vassilis Kitidis, Jose Lozano, John Stephens, Carolyn Harris, Rob Thomas

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Despite its importance to ocean–climate interactions, the metabolic state of the oligotrophic ocean has remained controversial for >15 years. Positions in the debate are that it is either hetero- or autotrophic, which suggests either substantial unaccounted for organic matter inputs, or that all available photosynthesis (P) estimations (including 14C) are biased. Here we show the existence of systematic differences in the metabolic state of the North (heterotrophic) and South (autotrophic) Atlantic oligotrophic gyres, resulting from differences in both P and respiration (R). The oligotrophic ocean is neither auto- nor heterotrophic, but functionally diverse. Our results show that the scaling of plankton metabolism by generalized P:R relationships that has sustained the debate is biased, and indicate that the variability of R, and not only of P, needs to be considered in regional estimations of the ocean’s metabolic state.

Original language	English
Article number	6961
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7961
Publication status	Published - 24 Apr 2015

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10.1038/ncomms7961Licence: CC BY

Serret et al 2015 NComms AMTFinal published version, 1.28 MBLicence: CC BY

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150424/ncomms7961/full/ncomms7961.htmlLicence: CC BY

Carol Robinson
- Carol.Robinsonuea.acuk
- School of Environmental Sciences - Professor of Marine Sciences
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation - Member
- Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences - Member
- Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas - Member
- Environmental Biology - Member
- ClimateUEA - Member
Person: Research Group Member, Research Centre Member, Academic, Teaching & Research

SOFI : A Carbon and transient tracer measurement programme in the Atlantic and Southern Ocean under Oceans 2025.
Watson, A. & Bakker, D.
Natural Environment Research Council
1/11/08 → 31/10/12
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean",

abstract = "Despite its importance to ocean–climate interactions, the metabolic state of the oligotrophic ocean has remained controversial for >15 years. Positions in the debate are that it is either hetero- or autotrophic, which suggests either substantial unaccounted for organic matter inputs, or that all available photosynthesis (P) estimations (including 14C) are biased. Here we show the existence of systematic differences in the metabolic state of the North (heterotrophic) and South (autotrophic) Atlantic oligotrophic gyres, resulting from differences in both P and respiration (R). The oligotrophic ocean is neither auto- nor heterotrophic, but functionally diverse. Our results show that the scaling of plankton metabolism by generalized P:R relationships that has sustained the debate is biased, and indicate that the variability of R, and not only of P, needs to be considered in regional estimations of the ocean{\textquoteright}s metabolic state.",

author = "Pablo Serret and Carol Robinson and Maria Aranguren-Gassis and Garcia-Martin, {E. Elena} and Niki Gist and Vassilis Kitidis and Jose Lozano and John Stephens and Carolyn Harris and Rob Thomas",

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T1 - Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean

AU - Serret, Pablo

AU - Robinson, Carol

AU - Aranguren-Gassis, Maria

AU - Garcia-Martin, E. Elena

AU - Gist, Niki

AU - Kitidis, Vassilis

AU - Lozano, Jose

AU - Stephens, John

AU - Harris, Carolyn

AU - Thomas, Rob

N1 - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

PY - 2015/4/24

Y1 - 2015/4/24

N2 - Despite its importance to ocean–climate interactions, the metabolic state of the oligotrophic ocean has remained controversial for >15 years. Positions in the debate are that it is either hetero- or autotrophic, which suggests either substantial unaccounted for organic matter inputs, or that all available photosynthesis (P) estimations (including 14C) are biased. Here we show the existence of systematic differences in the metabolic state of the North (heterotrophic) and South (autotrophic) Atlantic oligotrophic gyres, resulting from differences in both P and respiration (R). The oligotrophic ocean is neither auto- nor heterotrophic, but functionally diverse. Our results show that the scaling of plankton metabolism by generalized P:R relationships that has sustained the debate is biased, and indicate that the variability of R, and not only of P, needs to be considered in regional estimations of the ocean’s metabolic state.

AB - Despite its importance to ocean–climate interactions, the metabolic state of the oligotrophic ocean has remained controversial for >15 years. Positions in the debate are that it is either hetero- or autotrophic, which suggests either substantial unaccounted for organic matter inputs, or that all available photosynthesis (P) estimations (including 14C) are biased. Here we show the existence of systematic differences in the metabolic state of the North (heterotrophic) and South (autotrophic) Atlantic oligotrophic gyres, resulting from differences in both P and respiration (R). The oligotrophic ocean is neither auto- nor heterotrophic, but functionally diverse. Our results show that the scaling of plankton metabolism by generalized P:R relationships that has sustained the debate is biased, and indicate that the variability of R, and not only of P, needs to be considered in regional estimations of the ocean’s metabolic state.

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VL - 6

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 6961

ER -

Both respiration and photosynthesis determine the scaling of plankton metabolism in the oligotrophic ocean

Abstract

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Carol Robinson

Projects

SOFI : A Carbon and transient tracer measurement programme in the Atlantic and Southern Ocean under Oceans 2025.

Cite this