Abstract
Seasonal variations in tissue nitrogen (ethanol soluble nitrate and ninhydrin positive substances, as well as total nitrogen) of different thallus parts of Pleurophycus gardneri Setchell and Saunders were monitored simultaneously with ambient seawater nitrate from 1982 until 1984 in Bamfield, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. A trend of low, nearly zero levels in ambient nitrate typical for the area in late spring and early summer normally contrasts with average nitrate concentrations of 10 μmol NO3 - l-1 in late fall and winter. Total nitrogen content was greater in the perennial thallus parts, stipe and holdfast than in the annual blade and peaked in fall and early winter. The longitudinal thallus distribution of nitrate revealed a distinct and significant concentration of nitrate in the haptera reaching at maximum 8% nitrate-N of the internal total nitrogen. Internal nitrate concentration ranged from 20 to 5 000 times the ambient nitrate concentration in the midrib, and from 40 to 3 100 times in the wing, while the range was greatest with 400 to 14 000 times in the haptera. P. gardneri contained at most about 7 μmol NO3 - g fresh wt-1 in the blade, which corresponds to about 6% of total tissue nitrogen. Ninhydrin positive substances comprised the major portion of the soluble N pool in P. gardneri and showed a pronounced seasonality. Concentrations of ninhydrin positive substances ranged from 20 to 800 μg N g fresh wt-1 in the midrib and in the wing. In the stipe, ninhydrin positive substances varied from 180 to 2 200 μg N g fresh wt-1, and from 250 to 1 200 μg N g fresh wt-1 in the haptera. Evidence is given that (1) the perennial parts, stipe and haptera of P. gardneri contain the majority of nitrogen products independent of season and ontogenetic stage; (2) ninhydrin positive substances are the most abundant internal nitrogen constituents; (3) the low N values in the blade in summer suggest a nitrogen limited growth; and (4) nitrate may not be the predominant external nitrogen source.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Black, W. A. P.: The seasonal variation in chemical constitution of some of the sublittoral seaweeds common to Scotland. Part I. Laminaria cloustoni. J. Soc. Chem. Ind. Lond. 61, 165–168 (1948)
Black, W. A. P.: The seasonal variation in weight and chemical composition of the common British Laminariaceae. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 29, 45–72 (1950)
Black, W. A. P. and E. T. Dewar: Correlation of some of the physical and chemical properties of the sea with the chemical composition of the algae. J mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 28, 673–699 (1949)
Buggeln, R. G.: Physiological investigations on Alaria esculenta (L.) Grev. (Laminariales). I. Elongation of the blades. J. Phycol. 10, 283–288 (1974)
Buggeln, R. G.: Physiological investigation on Alaria esculenta (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae). IV. Inorganic and organic nitrogen in the blade. J. Phycol. 14, 156–160 (1978)
Chapman, A. R. O. and J. Craigie: Seasonal growth in Laminaria longicruris: relations with dissolved inorganic nutrients and internal reserves of nitrogen. Mar. Biol. 40, 197–205 (1977)
Chapman, A. R. O. and J. S. Craigie: Seasonal growth in Laminaria longicruris: relation with reserve carbohydrate storage and production. Mar. Biol. 46, 209–213 (1978)
Chapman, A. R. O. and J. E. Lindley: Seasonal growth of Laminaria solidungula in the Canadian High Arctic in relation to irradiance and dissolved nutrient concentration. Mar. Biol. 57, 1–5 (1980)
Chapman, A. R. O., J. M. Markham and K. Lüning: Effects of nitrate concentration on the growth and physiology of Laminaria saccharina (Phaeophyta) in culture. J. Phycol. 14, 195–198 (1978)
Chelton, D. B., P. A. Bernal and J. A. McGowan: Large-scale interannual physical and biological interaction in the California current. J. mar. Res. 40, 1095–1125 (1982)
Davison, I. R.: Nitrogen metabolism of Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour, 199 pp. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland 1983
Davison, I. R., M. Andrews and W. D. P. Stewart: Regulation of growth in Laminaria digitata: use of in-vivo nitrate reductase activities as an indicator of nitrogen limitation in field populations of Laminaria spp. Mar. Biol. 84, 207–217 (1984)
Davison, I. R. and W. D. P. Stewart: Occurrence and significance of nitrogen transport in the brown alga Laminaria digitata. Mar. Biol. 77, 107–112 (1983)
Davison, I. R. and W. D. P. Stewart: Studies on nitrate reductase activity in Laminaria digitata (Huds.) Lamour. I. Longitudinal and transverse profiles of nitrate reductase activity within the thallus. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 74, 201–210 (1984)
D'Elia, C. F. and J. A. DeBoer: Nutritional studies of two red algae. II. Kinetics of ammonium and nitrate uptake. J. Phycol. 14, 266–272 (1978)
Fiedler, P. C.: Satellite observations of the 1982–1983 El Niño along the U.S. Pacific coast. Science, Wash. DC 224, 1251–1254 (1984)
Gagné, J. A., K. H. Mann and A. R. O. Chapman: Seasonal patterns of growth and storage in Laminaria longicruris in relation to differing patterns of availability of nitrogen in the water. Mar. Biol. 69, 91–101 (1982)
Gerard, V. A.: Growth and utilisation of internal nitrogen reserves by the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera in a low-nitrogen environment. Mar. Biol. 66, 27–35 (1982)
Gerard, V. A. and K. H. Mann: Growth and reproduction of Laminaria longicruris (Phaeophyta) populations exposed to different intensities of water movement. J. Phycol. 15, 33–41 (1979)
Germann, I.: Growth phenology of Pleurophycus gardneri (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales), a deciduous kelp of the northeast Pacific. Can. J. Bot. 64, 2538–2547 (1986a)
Germann, I.: Ecophysiological studies of a deciduous northeast Pacific kelp, Pleurophycus gardneri (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales), 196 pp. Ph.D. thesis, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 1986 b
Hanisak, M. D.: Nitrogen limitation of Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides as determined by tissue analysis. Mar. Biol. 50, 333–337 (1979)
Jensen, A., M. Indergaard and T. J. Holt: Chemical composition of Saccorhiza polyschides (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae). Bot. mar. XXVIII, 375–381 (1985)
Kain, J. M. (Mrs. N. S. Jones): A view of the genus Laminaria. Oceanogr. mar. biol. A. Rev. 17, 101–161 (1979)
Lapointe, B. E., L. D. Williams, J. C. Goldmand and J. H. Ryther: The mass outdoor culture of macroscopic marine algae. Aquaculture 8, 9–21 (1976)
Larsen, B. and A. Jensen: The determination of nitrate and nitrite in algal material, and the seasonal variations in the nitrate content of some Norwegian seweeds. Norw. Inst. Seaweed Res., Report 15, 1–22 (1957)
Lüning, K.: Growth strategies of three Laminaria species (Phaeophyceae) inhabiting different depth zones in the sublittoral region of Helgoland (North Sea). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 1, 195–207 (1979)
Lüning, K.: Seasonality in larger brown algae and its possible regulation by the environment. In: Synthetic and degradative processes in marine macrophytes, pp 47–67. Ed. by L. M. Srivastava. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Co. 1982
Moore, S.: Amino acid analysis: aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent for the ninhydrin reaction. J. Biol. Chem. 243, 6281–6283 (1968)
Neish, A. C. and P. F. Shacklock: Greenhouse experiments (1971) on the propagation of strain T4 of Irish Moss. Nat. Res. Counc., Can. Atl. Res. Lab. Tech. Rep. No. 14 (1971)
North, W. J., V. Gerard and J. Kuwabara: Farming Macrocystis at coastal and oceanic sites. In: Synthetic and degradative processes in marine macrophytes, pp 247–264. Ed by L. M. Srivastava. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter and Co. 1982
Parke, M.: Studies on the British Laminariaceae I. Growth in Laminaria saccharina. J. mar. biol. Ass. UK 27, 651–709 (1948)
Rosell, K.-G. and L. M. Srivastava: Seasonal variation in total nitrogen, carbon and amino acids in Macrocystis integrifolia and Nereocystis luetkeana (Phaeophyta). J. Phycol. 21, 304–309 (1985)
Ryther, J. H. and W. M. Dunstan: Nitrogen, phosphorus, and eutrophication in the coastal marine enviroment. Science, Wash. DC 171, 1008–1013 (1971)
Strickland, J. D. H. and T. R. Parsons: A practical handbook of seawater analysis, 310 pp. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 167, 1972
Syrett, P. J.: Nitrogen metabolism in microalgae. In: Physiological basis of phytoplankton ecology. Ed. by T. Platt. Can. Bull. Fish. aquat. Sci. No. 210, 182–210 (1981)
Takagi, M. and K. Murata: Studies on the mechanism of nitrogen assimilation in marine algae — VI. Bull. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ. 6, 25–28 (1955)
Thomas, T. E.: Ecological aspects of nitrogen uptake in intertidal macrophytes, 207 pp. Ph.D. thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada 1983
Topinka, J. A. and J. V. Robbins: Effects of nitrate and ammonium enrichment on growth and nitrogen physiology in Fucus spiralis. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21, 659–664 (1976)
Wheeler, P. A. and W. J. North: Effects of nitrogen supply on nitrogen content and growth rate of juvenile Macrocystis pyrifera (Phaeophyta) sporophytes. J. Phycol. 16, 577–582 (1980)
Wheeler, P. A. and W. J. North: Nitrogen supply, tissue composition and frond growth rates for Macrocystis pyrifera off the coast of southern California. Mar. Biol. 64, 59–69 (1981)
Wheeler, W. N., R. G. Smith and L. M. Srivastava: Seasonal photosynthetic performance of Nereocystis luetkeana. Can. J. Bot. 62, 644–670 (1984)
Wheeler, W. N. and L. M. Srivastava: Seasonal nitrate physiology of Macrocystis integrifolia Bory. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 76, 35–50 (1984)
Zimmerman, R. C. and J. N. Kremer: In situ growth and chemical composition of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera: response to temporal changes in ambient nutrient availability. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 27, 277–285 (1986)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Germann, I., Druehl, L.D. & Hoeger, U. Seasonal variation in total and soluble tissue nitrogen of Pleurophycus gardneri (Phaeophyceae: Laminariales) in relation to environmental nitrate. Mar. Biol. 96, 413–423 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00412526
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00412526