Is dinitrogen fixation significant in the Levantine Basin, East Mediterranean Sea?
We report N(2) fixation rates measured from two stations monitored monthly off the Mediterranean coast of Israel during 2006 and 2007, and along a transect from Israel to Crete in September 2008. Analyses of time-series data revealed expression of nifH genes from diazotrophs in nifH clusters I and II, including cyanobacterial bloom-formers Trichodesmium and diatom-Richelia intracellularis associations. However, nifH gene abundance and rates of N(2) fixation were very low in all size fractions measured (> 0.7 µm). Volumetric (15) N uptake ranged from below detection (∼ 36% of > 300 samples) to a high of 0.3 nmol N l(-1) d(-1) and did not vary distinctly with depth or season. Areal N(2) fixation averaged ∼ 1 to 4 µmol N m(-2) d(-1) and contributed only ∼ 1% and 2% of new production and ∼ 0.25% and 0.5% of primary production for the mixed (winter) and stratified (spring-fall) periods respectively. N(2) fixation rates along the 2008 east-west transect were also extremely low (0-0.04 nmol N l(-1) d(-1), integrated average 2.6 µmol N m(-2) d(-1) ) with 37% of samples below detection and no discernable difference between stations. We demonstrate that diazotrophy and N(2) fixation contribute only a minor amount of new N to the P impoverished eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Tali
T
Yogev
Eyal
E
Rahav
Edo
E
Bar-Zeev
Dikla
D
Man-Aharonovich
Noga
N
Stambler
Nurit
N
Kress
Oded
O
Béjà
Margaret R
MR
Mulholland
Barak
B
Herut
Ilana
I
Berman-Frank
D044822:Biodiversity; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017377:Diatoms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology
D010088:Oxidoreductases; C029130:nitrogenase reductase; D009584:Nitrogen