Biogeosciences
www.biogeosciences.net
1726-4170
1726-4189
4
1
2007
10.5194/bg-4-105-2007
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/105/2007/
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/105/2007/bg-4-105-2007.html
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/105/2007/bg-4-105-2007.pdf
105
114
2007-01-26
Consequences of respiration in the light on the determination of production in pelagic systems
O. Pringault
olivier.pringault@noumea.ird.nc
V. Tassas
E. Rochelle-Newall
UR 103 Camélia, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, New Caledonia
Oxygen microprobes were used to estimate Community Respiration (R), Net
Community Production (NCP) and Gross Primary Production (GPP) in coastal
seawater samples. Using this highly stable and reproducible technique to
measure oxygen change during alternating dark and light periods, we show
that respiration in the light could account for up to 640% of respiration
in the dark. The light enhanced dark respiration can remain elevated for
several hours following a 12 h period of illumination. Not including
R<sub>light</sub> into calculations of production leads to an underestimation of
GPP, which can reach up to 650% in net heterotrophic systems. The
production: respiration (P:R) ratio is in turn affected by the higher
respiration rates and by the underestimation of GPP. While the integration
of R<sub>light</sub> into the calculation of P:R ratio does not change the
metabolic balance of the system, it decreases the observed tendency, thus
net autotrophic systems become less autotrophic and net heterotrophic
systems become less heterotrophic. As a consequence, we propose that efforts
have to be focused on the estimation and the integration of R<sub>light</sub> into
the determination of GPP and R for a better understanding of the aquatic
carbon cycle.
Bender, M. L., Grande, K. D., Johnson, K., Marra, K., Williams, P. J. le B., Sieburth, J., Pilson, M., Langdon, C., Hitchcock, G., Orchardo, J., Hunt, C., Donaghay, P., and Heinemann, K.: A comparison of four methods for determining planktonic community production, Limnol. Oceanogr., 32, 1085–1098, 1987.
Briand, E., Pringault, O., Jacquet, S., and Torréton, J. P.: The use of oxygen microprobes to measure bacterial respiration for determining bacterioplankton growth efficiency, Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods, 2, 406–416, 2004.
Caffrey, J. M.: Factors controlling net ecosystem metabolism in U.S. estuaries, Estuaries, 27, 90–101, 2004.
Church, M. J., Ducklow, H. W., and Karl, D. M.: Light dependence of [$^3$H]leucine incorporation in the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 70, 4079–4087, 2004.
del Giorgio, P. A., Cole, J. J., and Cimbleris, A.: Respiration rates in bacteria exceed phytoplankton production in unproductive aquatic systems, Nature, 385, 148–151, 1997.
del Giorgio, P. A. and Cole, J. J.: Bacterial growth efficiency in natural aquatic systems, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 29, 503–541, 1998.
del Giorgio, P. A. and Duarte, C. M.: Respiration in the open ocean, Nature, 420, 379–384, 2002.
del Giorgio, P. A. and Williams, P. J. le B.: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems, Oxford University Press, New York, 2005.
Duarte, C. M. and Agusti, S.: The CO$_2 $ balance of unproductive aquatic ecosystems, Science, 281, 234–236, 1998.
Duarte, C. M. and Agusti, S.: Threshold of gross primary production for planktonic metabolic balance in the Southern Ocean: an experimental test, Limnol. Oceanogr., 50, 1334–1339, 2005.
Ekelund, N. G. A.: Interactions between photosynthesis and `light-enhanced dark respiration'(LEDR) in the flagellate \textitEuglena gracilis after irradiation with ultraviolet radiation, J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol., 55, 63–69, 2000.
Epping, E. H. G. and Jørgensen, B. B.: Light-enhanced oxygen respiration in benthic phototrophic communities, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 139, 193–203, 1996.
Epping, E. H. G., Khalili, A., and Thar, R.: Dynamics of photosynthesis and respiration in an intertidal biofilm, Limnol. Oceanogr., 44, 1936–1948, 1999.
Epping, E. H. G. and Kühl, M.: The responses of photosynthesis and oxygen consumption to short-term changes in temperature and irradiance in a cyanobacterial mat (Ebro Delta, Spain), Environ. Microbiol., 2, 465–474, 2000.
Falkowski, P. G., Dubinsky, Z., and Santostefano, G.: Light-enhanced dark respiration in phytoplankton, Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol., 22, 2830–2833, 1985.
Gattuso, J. P., Peduzzi, S., Pizay, M. D., and Tonolla, M.: Changes in freshwater bacterial community composition during measurements of microbial and community respiration, J. Plankton Res., 24, 1197–1206, 2002.
Grande, K. D., Marra, J., Langdon, C., Heinemann, K., and Bender, M. L.: Rates of respiration in the light measured in marine phytoplankton using an $^18$O isotope-labelling technique, J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 129, 95–120, 1989a.
Grande, K. D., Williams, P. J. Le B., Marra, J., Purdie, D. A., Heinemann, K., Eppley, R. W., and Bender, M. L.: Primary production in the North Pacific gyre: a comparison of rates determined by the $^14$C, O<sub>2</sub> concentration and $^18$O methods, Deep Sea Res., 36, 1621–1634, 1989b.
Heraud, P. and Beardall, J.: Ultraviolet radiation has no effect on respiratory oxygen consumption or enhanced post-illumination respiration in three species of microalgae, J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol., 68, 109–116, 2002.
Jeffrey, S. W. and Humphrey, G. F.: New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1, c2 in algae, phytoplankton and higher plants, Biochem. Physiol., 167, 191–194, 1975.
Lassen, C., Glud, R. N., Ramsing, N. B., and Revsbech, N. P.: A method to improve the spatial resolution of photosynthetic rates obtained by oxygen microsensors, J. Phycol., 34, 89–93, 1998.
Ludwig, R., Pringault, O., De Wit, R., De Beer, D., and Jonkers, H. M.: Limitation of oxygenic photosynthesis and oxygen consumption by phosphate and organic nitrogen in a hypersaline microbialmat: a microsensor study, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 57, 9–17, 2006.
Luz, B., Barkan, E., Sagi, Y., and Yacobi, Y. Z.: Evaluation of community respiratory mechanisms with oxygen isotopes: A case study in Lake Kinneret, Limnol. Oceanogr., 47, 33–42, 2002.
Paerl, H. W. and Pinckney, J. L.: A mini-review of microbial consortia: Their roles in aquatic production and biogeochemical cycling, Microb. Ecol., 31, 225–247, 1996.
Raven, J. A. and Beardall, J.: Respiration in aquatic photolithotrophs, in: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems, edited by: del Giorgio, P. A. and Williams, P. J. le B., Oxford University Press, New York, 36–46, 2005.
Revsbech, N. P. and Jørgensen, B. B.: Photosynthesis of benthic microflora measured with high spatial resolution by the oxygen microprofile method: capabilities and limitations of the method, Limnol. Oceanogr., 28, 749–756, 1983.
Revsbech, N. P. and Jørgensen, B. B.: Micro-electrodes: their use in microbial ecology, Adv. Microb. Ecol., 9, 293–352, 1986.
Revsbech, N. P.: An oxygen microsensor with a guard cathode, Limnol. Oceanogr., 34, 474–476, 1989.
Robinson, C. and Williams, P. J. le B.: Respiration and its measurement in surface marine waters, in: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems, edited by: del Giorgio, P. A. and Williams, P. J. le B., Oxford University Press, New York, 147–180, 2005.
Sherr, B. F. and Sherr, E. B.: Community respiration/production and bacterial activity in the upper water column of the central Arctic Ocean, Deep-Sea Res. I, 50, 529–542, 2003.
Smith, E. M. and Kemp, W. M.: Size structure and the production/respiration balance in a coastal plankton community, Limnol. Oceanogr., 46, 473–485, 2001.
Weger, H. G., Herzig, R., Falkowski, P. G., and Turpin, D. H.: Respiratory losses in the light in a marine diatom: measurements by short-term mass spectrometry, Limnol. Oceanogr., 34, 1153–1161, 1989.
Wieland, A. and Kühl, M.: Irradiance and temperature regulation of oxygenic photosynthesis and O<sub>2</sub> consumption in a hypersaline cyanobacterial mat (Solar Lake, Egypt), Mar. Biol., 137, 71–85, 2000.
Williams, P. J. le B.: The balance of plankton respiration and photosynthesis in the open oceans, Nature, 394, 55–57, 1998.
Williams, P. J. le B., Morris, P. J., and Karl, D. M.: Net community production and metabolic balance at the oligotrophic ocean site, station ALOHA, Deep-Sea Res. I, 51, 1563–1578, 2004.
Williams, P. J. le B. and del Giorgio, P. A.: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems: history and background, in: Respiration in aquatic ecosystems, edited by: del Giorgio, P. A. and Williams, P. J. le B., Oxford University Press, New York, 1–17, 2005.