Abstract
The nutritional status of a phytoplankton community was investigated in a coastal jet-front located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, in 1987. During the sampling period, the frontal community was mainly composed of the diatomsChaetoceros debilis, Skeletonema costatum, Thalassiosira gravida andC. pelagicus. As previously reported for the St. Lawrence, some frontal stations were depleted both in nitrate and silicate. At stations impoverished in nitrate, internal nitrate pool concentrations were low or undetectable, suggesting that cells had not, recently, been exposed to a nitrate flux which exceeded the nitrate assimilation rate. At these impoverished stations, however, ambient and intracellular concentrations of ammonium and urea were high, suggesting that the community was not nitrogen-deficient. The comparison between the ambient silicate concentrations and the silicate requirement (K s ) of the dominant diatoms suggests thatC. debilis andS. costatum were Si-deficient. This is further supported by the low silicate uptake rates and intracellular concentrations measured at the silicate impoverished stations. The silicate deficiency also resulted in a decrease in the seston and phytoplankton N:C ratios.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Admiraal, W., Peletier, H., Laane, R. W. P. M. (1986). Nitrogen metabolism of marine planktonic diatoms; excretion, assimilation and cellular pools of free amino acids in seven species with different cell size. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 98: 241–263
Aminot, A., Kerouel, R. (1982). Dosage automatique de l'urée dans l'eau de mer: une méthode très sensible à la diacétylmonoxime. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sciences 39: 174–183
Azam, F., Chisholm, S. W. (1976). Silicic acid uptake and incorporation by natural marine phytoplankton populations. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21: 427–435
Azam, F., Hemmingsen, B. B., Volcani, B. E. (1974). Role of silicon in diatom metabolism. V. Silicic acid transport and metabolism in the heterotrophic diatomNitzschia alba. Archs Microbiol. 97: 103–114
Benoît, J., El-Sabh, M. I., Tang, C. L. (1985). Structure and seasonal characteristics of the Gaspé Current. J. geophys. Res. 90: 3225–3236
Brink, K. H., Jones, B. J., Leen, J. C. van, Mooers, C. K. N., Stuart, D. W., Stevenson, M. R., Dugdale, R. C., Heburn, G. W. (1981). Physical and biological structure and variability in an upwelling center off Peru near 15°S during March, 1977. In: Richards, F. A. (ed.) Coastal upwelling. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C., p. 473–495
Collos, Y., Slawyk, G. (1976). Significance of cellular nitrate content in natural populations of marine phytoplankton growing in shipboard cultures. Mar. Biol. 34: 27–32
Conover, S. A. M. (1975). Nitrogen utilization during spring blooms of marine phytoplankton in Bedford Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mar. Biol. 32: 247–261
Conway, H. L., Harrison, P. J. (1977). Marine diatoms grown in chemostats under silicate or ammonium limitation. IV. Transient response ofChaetoceros debilis, Skeletonema costatum, andThalassiosira gravida to a single addition of a limiting nutrient. Mar. Biol. 43: 33–43
Coote, A. R., Yeats, P. A. (1979). Distribution of nutrients in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 36: 122–131
Davis, C. O., Breitner, N. F., Harrison, P. J. (1978). Continuous culture of marine diatoms under silicate limitation. III. A model of Si-limited diatom growth. Limnol. Oceanogr. 23: 41–52
DeManche, J. M., Curl, H. C., Lundy, D. W., Donaghay, P. L. (1979). The rapid response of the marine diatomSkeletonema costatum to changes in external nutrient concentrations. Mar. Biol. 53: 323–333
Dortch, Q. (1982). Effect of growth conditions on the accumulation of internal pools of nitrate, ammonium, amino acids and protein in three marine diatoms. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 61: 243–264
Dortch, Q., Clayton, Jr., J. R., Thoresen, S. S., Ahmed, S. I. (1984). Species differences in accumulation of nitrogen pools in phytoplankton. Mar. Biol. 81: 237–250
Dortch, Q., Clayton, Jr., J. R., Thoresen, S. S., Cleveland, J. S., Bressler, S. L., Ahmed, S. I. (1985). Nitrogen storage and use of the biochemical indices to assess nitrogen deficiency and growth rate in natural plankton populations. J. mar. Res. 43: 437–464
Dugdale, R. C. (1972). Chemical oceanography and primary productivity in upwelling regions. Geoforum 2: 47–61
Dugdale, R. C., Goering, J. J. (1967). Uptake of new and regenerated forms of nitrogen in primary productivity. Limnol. Oceanogr. 12: 196–206
Dugdale, R. C., Jones, B. H., MacIsaac, J. J., Goering, J. J. (1981). Adaptation of nutrient assimilation. In: Platt, T. (ed.) Physiological bases of phytoplankton ecology. Can. Bull. Fish. aquat. Sciences, p. 234–250
Dugdale, R. C., Wilkerson, F. P. (1986). The use of15N to measure nitrogen uptake in eutrophic oceans; experimental considerations. Limnol. Oceanogr. 31: 673–689
El-Sabh, M. I. (1976). Surface circulation pattern in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 33: 124–138
Fiedler, R., Proksch, G. (1975). The determination of nitrogen-15 by emission and mass spectrometry in biochemical analysis: a review. Analytica chim. Acta 78: 1–62
Glibert, P. M., McCarthy, J. J. (1984). Uptake and assimilation of ammonium and nitrate by phytoplankton: indices of nutritional status for natural assemblages. J. Plankton Res. 6: 677–697
Goering, J. J., Nelson, D. M., Carter, J. A. (1973). Silicic acid uptake by natural populations of marine phytoplankton. Deep-Sea Res. 20: 777–789
Goldman, J. C., McCarthy, J. J., Peavey, D. G. (1979). Growth rate influence on the chemical composition of phytoplankton in oceanic waters. Nature, Lond. 279: 210–215
Gosselin, M., Legendre, L., Therriault, J.-C., Demers, S. (in press). Light and nutrient limitation of sea-ice microalgae (Hudson Bay, Canadian Arctic). J. Phycol.
Harrison, P. J., Conway, H. L., Holmes, R. W., Davis, C. O. (1977). Marine diatoms grown in chemostats under silicate or ammonium limitation. III. Cellular chemical composition and morphology ofChaetoceros debilis, Skeletonema costatum andThalassiosira gravida. Mar. Biol. 43: 19–31
Healey, F. P., Hendzel, L. L. (1980). Physiological indicators of nutrient deficiency in lake phytoplankton. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sciences 37: 442–453
Holm-Hansen, O., Lorenzen, C. J., Holmes, R. W., Strickland, J. D. H. (1965). Fluorometric determination of chlorophyll. J. Cons. perm., Int. Explor. Mer 30: 3–15
King, F. D. (1986). The dependence of primary production in the mixed layer of the eastern tropical Pacific on the vertical transport of nitrate. Deep-Sea Res. 33: 733–754
LaRoche, J. (1983). Ammonium regeneration: its contribution to phytoplankton nitrogen requirements in a eutrophic environment. Mar. Biol. 75: 231–240
Levasseur, M. E., Therriault, J.-C. (1987). Phytoplankton biomass and nutrient dynamics in a tidally induced upwelling: the role of the NO3:SiO4 ratio. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 39: 87–97
Lund, B. A. (1987). Mutual interference of ammonium, nitrate and urea on uptake of15N sources by the marine diatomSkeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 118: 167–180
Lund, J. W. G., Kipling, C., Lecren, E. D. (1958). The inverted microscope method of estimating algal numbers and the statistical basis of estimation by counting. Hydrobiologia 11: 143–178
Malone, T. C., Garside, C., Neale, P. J. (1980). Effects of silicate depletion on photosynthesis by diatoms in the plume of the Hudson River. Mar. Biol. 58: 197–204
McCarthy, J. J. (1980). Nitrogen. In: Morris, I. (ed.) The physiological ecology of phytoplankton. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p. 191–233
Molloy, C. J., Syrett, P. J. (1988). Interrelationships between uptake of urea and uptake of ammonium by microalgae. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 118: 85–95
Morris, I. (1981). Photosynthetic products, physiological state and phytoplankton growth. In: Platt, T. (ed.) Physiological bases of phytoplankton ecology. Can. Bull. Fish. aquat. Sciences 210: 83–102
Nelson, D. M., Goering, J. J., Boisseau, D. W. (1981). Consumption and regeneration of silicic acid in three coastal upwelling systems. In: Richards, F. A. (ed.) Coastal upwelling. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C., p. 242–256
Parker, J. G. G., Rosell, R. S., MacOscar, K. C. (1988). The phytoplankton production cycle in Belfast lough. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 68: 555–566
Parsons, T. R., Stephens, K., Strickland, J. D. H. (1961). On the chemical composition of eleven species of marine phytoplankters. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 18: 1001–1016
Price, N. M., Cochlan, W. P., Harrison, P. J. (1985). Time course of uptake of inorganic and organic nitrogen by phytoplankton in the Strait of Georgia: comparison of frontal and stratified communities. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 27: 39–53
Price, N. M., Harrison, P. J. (1987). Comparison of methods for the analysis of dissolved urea in seawater. Mar. Biol. 94: 307–317
Price, N. M., Harrison, P. J. (1988). Uptake of urea C and urea N by the coastal marine diatomThalassiosira pseudonana. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33: 528–537
Ryther, J. H., Dunstan, W. M. (1971). Nitrogen, phosphorus, and eutrophication in the coastal marine environment. Science, N. Y. 171: 1008–1013
Sakshaug, E., Andreses, K., Myklestad, S., Olsen, Y. (1983). Nutrient status of phytoplankton communities in Norwegian waters (marine, brackish and fresh) as revealed by their chemical composition. J. Plankton Res. 5: 175–196
Sharp, J. H. (1974). Improved analysis for “particulate” organic carbon and nitrogen from seawater. Limnol. Oceanogr. 19: 984–988
Shifrin, N. S., Chisholm, S. W. (1981) Phytoplankton lipids: interspecific differences and effects of nitrate, silicate and light-dark cycles. J. Phycol. 17: 374–384
Sommer, U. (1983). Does nutrient competition among phytoplankton occur in situ? Verh. int. angew. Limnol. 23: 707–712
Sommer, U. (1986). Nitrate- and silicate-competition among antarctic phytoplankton. Mar. Biol. 91: 345–351
Strickland, J. D. H., Parsons, T. R. (1972). A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 167: 1–130
Sullivan, C. W. (1979). Diatom mineralization of silicic acid. IV. Kinetics of soluble Si pool formation in exponentially growing and synchronizedNavicula pelliculosa. J. Phycol. 15: 210–216
Sullivan, C. W., Volcani, B. E. (1981). Silicon in the cellular metabolism of diatoms. In: Simpson, T. L., Volcani, B. E. (eds.) Silicon and siliceous structures in biological systems. Springer-Verlag, New York, p. 15–42
Tang, C. L. (1980). Mixing and circulation in the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence: a study of a buoyancy driven current system. J. geophys. Res. 25: 2787–2796
Tang, C. L. (1983). Cross-front mixing and frontal upwelling in a controlled quasi-permanent density front in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. J. phys. Oceanogr. 13: 1468–1481
Thomas, W. H. (1970a). On nitrogen deficiency in tropical oceanic phytoplankton: photosynthesis parameters in poor and rich water. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15: 380–385
Thomas, W. H. (1970b). Effect of ammonium and nitrate concentration on chlorophyll increases in natural tropical Pacific phytoplankton populations. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15: 386–394
Thoresen, S. S., Dortch, Q., Ahmed, S. I. (1982). Comparison of methods for extracting intracellular pools of inorganic nitrogen from marine phytoplankton. J. Plankton Res. 4: 695–704
Volcani, B. E. (1978). Role of silicon in diatom metabolism and silicifation. In: Bendz, G., Lindquist, I. (eds.) Biochemistry of silicon and related problems. Plenum Press, New York, p. 177–204
Wheeler, P. A. (1983). Phytoplankton nitrogen metabolism. In: Carpenter, E. J., Caperon, D. G. (eds.) Nitrogen in the marine environment. Academic Press, New York, p. 1–38
Yentsch, C. S., Menzel, D. W. (1963). A method for the determination of phytoplankton chlorophyll and phaeophytin by fluorescence. Deep-Sea Res. 10: 221–231
Zentara, S.-J., Kamykowski, D. (1981). Geographic variations in the relationship between silicic acid and nitrate in the South Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. 28: 455–465
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by R. O'Dor, Halifax
Please address all correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr Levasseur at his new address: Maurice Lamontagne Institute, 850 Route de la Mer, Mont-Joli, Québec G5H 3Z4, Canada
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levasseur, M.E., Harrison, P.J., Heimdal, B.R. et al. Simultaneous nitrogen and silicate deficiency of a phytoplankton community in a coastal jet-front. Mar. Biol. 104, 329–338 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01313275
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01313275