Abstract
Excretion of ammonia by mesozooplankton (>200 μm zooplankton) and its potential contribution to the nitrogen requirement for phytoplankton growth has been estimated for different hydrographical situations along a transect across the Catalan Sea (Northwestern Mediterranean). The nitrogen excreted as ammonia was estimated from mesozooplankton biomass and specific excretion rates. Nitrogen requirements of phytoplankton were estimated by means of carbon fixation rates and C:N ratios of <200 μm particulate organic matter. Minimum C:N ratios and maximum primary production, zooplankton biomass, phytoplankton nitrogen requirements, and nitrogen excretion of zooplankton occurred near the Catalan density front. On average, the nitrogen regenerated by the mesozooplankton accounted for 43% of the nitrogen requirements of the phytoplankton. The specific excretion rates of ammonia and the percentage of phytoplanktonnitrogen requirements supplied by excreted nitrogen were higher at coastal stations. In some coastal and frontal stations, the ammonia excreted exceeded the phytoplanktonnitrogen demand. Bacteria competing for nutrient supply and the possible uncoupling between rate processes and standing stocks of phyto- and zooplankton could explain the apparent excess of regenerated ammonia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alcaraz M (1981) Carbono y nitrógeno orgánicos del mesozooplankton en el Mediterraneo Occidental en octubre de 1976: distribución espacial y relación C/N. Investigación pesq 9: 129–141
Alcaraz M (1982) Zooplankton biomass and its relation to total particulate carbon and nitrogen in Northwest Africa. Rapp P-v Réun Cons int Explor Mer 180: 270–273
Alcaraz M (1985) Vertical distribution of zooplankton biomass during summer stratification in the Western Mediterranean. Proc 19th Eur mar Biol Symp 135–143. [Gibbs PE (ed) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge]
Alcaraz M (1988) Summer zooplankton metabolism and its relation to primary production in the Western Mediterranean. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 185–191
Alcaraz M, Estrada M, Flos J, Fraga F (1985) Particulate carbon and nitrogen and plankton biomass in oligotrophic and upwelling systems. Int Symp Upwelling W Afr 435–448 [Bas C, Margolef R, Rubies P (eds) Instituto de Investigaciónes Pesqueras, Barcelona]
Béthoux JP (1981) Le phosphore et l'azote en mer Méditerranée, bilans et fertilité potentielle. Mar Chem 10: 141–158
Boucher J (1984) Localization of zooplankton populations in the Ligurian marine front: role of ontogenic migration. Deep-Sea Res 29: 953–965
Castellón A, Font J, Garcia-Ladona E (1991) The Liguro-Provençal-Catalan current (NW Mediterranean) observed by Doppler profiling in the Balearic Sea. Scientia mar 54: 269–276
Copin-Montegut C, Copin-Montegut G (1983) Stoichiometry of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in marine particulate matter. Deep-Sea Res 30: 31–46
Dam HG, Miller CA, Jonasdottir SH (1993) The trophic role of mesozooplankton at 47°N, 20°W during the North Atlantic bloom experiment. Deep-Sea Res 40: 197–212
Dugdale RC, Goering JJ (1967) Uptake of new and regenerated forms of nitrogen in primary productivity. Limnol Oceanogr 12: 196–206
Dugdale RC, Hopkins TS (1978) Predicting the structure and dynamics of a pollution-driven marine ecosystem embedded in an oligotrophic sea. Thalassia jugosl. 14: 107–126
Dugdale RC, Wilkerson FP (1988) Nutrient sources and primary production in the Eastern Mediterranean. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 179–184
Eppley RW, Carlucci AF, Holm-Hansen O, Kiefer D, McCarthy JJ, Venrick E, Williams PM (1971) Phytoplankton growth and composition in shipboard cultures supplied with nitrate, ammonium, or urea as the nitrogen source. Limnol Oceanogr. 16: 741–751
Eppley RW, Peterson BJ (1979) Particulate organic matter flux and planktonic new production in the deep ocean. Nature, Lond 282: 677–680
Eppley RW, Renger EH, Venrick EL, Mullin MM (1973) A study of plankton dynamics and nutrient cycling in the central gyre of the north Pacific Ocean. Limnol Oceanogr 18: 534–551
Estrada M (1985a) Deep phytoplankton and chlorophyll maxima in the Western Mediterranean. In: Moraitou-Apostolopoulou M, Kiortsis V (eds) Mediterranean marine ecosystems. Plenum Press, New York, p 247–277
Estrada M (1985b) Primary production at the deep chlorophyll maximum in the Western Mediterranean. Proc 19th Eur mar Biol Symp 109–121. [Gibbs PE (ed) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge]
Estrada M, Margalef R (1988) Supply of nutrients to the Mediterranean photic zone along a persistent front. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 133–142
Estrada M, Marrasé C, Latasa M, Berdalet E, Delgado M, Riera T (1993) Variability of deep chlorophyll maximum characteristics in the Northwestern Mediterranean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 92: 289–300
Font J, Salat J, Tintoré J (1988) Permanent features in the circulation of the Catalan sea. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 51–57
Glibert PM (1982) Regional studies of daily, seasonal and size fraction variability in ammonium remineralization. Mar Biol 70: 209–222
Glibert PM, Miller CA, Garside C, Roman MR, McManus GB (1992) NH +4 regeneration and grazing: interdependent processes in size-fractionated 15NH +4 experiments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 82: 65–74
Goldman JC, Caron DA, Dennett MR (1987) Regulation of gross growth efficiency and ammonium regeneration in bacteria by substrate C:N ratio. Limnol Oceanogr 32: 1239–1252
Goldman JC, McCarty JJ, Peavey DG (1979) Growth rate influence on the chemical composition of phytoplankton in oceanic waters. Nature, Lond 279: 210–215
Hanson RB, Robertson CY, Yoder JA, Verity PG, Bishop SS (1990) Nitrogen recycling in coastal waters of southeastern US during summer (1986). J mar Res 48: 641–660
Jacques G (1988) Flux de carbone en milieu pélagique de Méditerranée occidentale lors de la floraison printanière. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 143–148
Koroleff F (1970) Revised version of direct determination of ammonia in natural waters as indophenol blue. Int Counc Explor Sea Comm Meet C 9(3): 19–22
Le Borgne RP (1973) Etude de la respiration et de l'excrétion d'azote et de phosphore des populations zooplanctoniques de l'upwelling mauritanien (mars–avril 1972). Mar Biol 19: 249–257
Le Fèvre J, Frontier S (1988) Influence of temporal characteristics of physical phenomena on plankton dynamics, as shown by North-West European marine ecosystems. NATO ASI (Ser C: Math phys Sciences) 239: 245–277
Masó M, PEPS Group (1988) Datos oceanográficos básicos de las campañas FRONTS-3-85, FRONTS-6-85, PEP-86, FRONTS-11-86 y PEP-87 en el mar Catalán. Datos informativ Inst Cienc Mar (Barcelona) 24: 1–83
Mayzaud P (1973) Respiration and nitrogen excretion of zooplankton. II. Studies on the metabolic characteristics of starved animals. Mar Biol 21: 19–28
Minas HJ (1970) La distribution de l'oxygène en relation avec la production primaire en Méditerranée Nord-Occidentale. Mar Biol 7: 181–204
Minas HJ, Bonin MC (1988) Oxygénation physique et biologique de la Méditerranée nord-occidentale en hiver et au printemps. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 123–132
Minas HJ, Minas M, Coste B, Gostan J, Nival P, Bonin MC (1988) Production de base et de recyclage; une revue de la problematique en Méditerranée nord-occidentale. Oceanol Acta SP 9: 155–162
Nival P, Nival S, Thiriot A (1975) Influence des conditions hivernales sur les productions phyto- et zooplanctoniques en Méditerranée Nord-Occidentale. V. Biomasse et production zooplanctonique-relations phytozooplancton. Mar Biol 31: 249–270
PEPS Group (1986) Datos oceanográficos básicos de las campañas PEP-82, PEP-83 y PEP-84 en el mar catalán. Datos informativ Inst Cienc Mar (Barcelona) 19: 1–100
Platt T, Gallegos CL, Harrison WG (1980) Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in natural assemblages of marine phytoplankton. J mar Res 38:697–701
Platt T, Harrison WG (1985) Biogenic fluxes of carbon and oxygen in the ocean. Nature, Lond 318: 55–58
Probyn TA (1987) Ammonium regeneration by microplankton in an upwelling environment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 37: 58–64
Saiz E, Rodriguez V, Alcaraz M (1992) Spatial distribution and feeding rates of Centropages typicus in relation to frontal hydrographic structures in the Catalan Sea (Western Mediterranean). Mar Biol 112: 49–56
Slawyk G, Collos Y, Minas M (1978) On the relation between carbon-to-nitrogen composition ratios of the particulate matter and growth rate of marine phytoplankton from the northwest African upwelling area. J exp mar Biol Ecol 33: 119–131
Smith SL (1978) The role of zooplankton in the nitrogen dynamics of a shallow estuary. Estuar cstl mar Sci 7: 555–565
Smith SL, Whitledge TE (1977) The role of zooplankton in the regeneration of nitrogen in a coastal upwelling system off northwest Africa. Deep-Sea Res 24: 49–56
Sournia A (1973) La production primaire planctonique en Méditerranée. Essai de mise à jour. Bull Étud commun Méditerr Monaco SP 5: 1–128
Steemann Nielsen E (1952) The use of radio-active carbon (14C) for measuring organic production in the sea. J Cons int Explor Mer 18: 117–140
Vaqué D (1988) Relacions entre el fitoplàncton i el bacterioplàncton en el mar Catalá. Interpretació de les dades de camp mitjançant l'aproximació experimental. PhD thesis. University of Barcelona
Varela R, FRONTS Group (1991) Datos oceanográficos básicos de las campañas FRONTS-89, FRONTS-90 y FRONTS-91 en el mar Catalán. Datos informativ Inst Cienc Mar (Barcelona) 26: 1–71
Verity PG (1985) Ammonia excretion rates of oceanic copepods and implications for estimates of primary production in the Sargasso sea. Biol Oceanogr 3: 249–283
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. M. Pérès, Marseille
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alcaraz, M., Saiz, E. & Estrada, M. Excretion of ammonia by zooplankton and its potential contribution to nitrogen requirements for primary production in the Catalan Sea (NW Mediterranean). Marine Biology 119, 69–76 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00350108
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00350108