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Microbial ecosystem dynamics drive fluctuating nitrogen loss in marine anoxic zones



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  • Journal Title:
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States
  • Personal Author:
  • NOAA Program & Office:
  • Description:
    The dynamics of nitrogen (N) loss in the ocean's oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs) are thought to be driven by climate impacts on ocean circulation and biological productivity. Here we analyze a data-constrained model of the microbial ecosystem in an ODZ and find that species interactions drive fluctuations in local- and regional-scale rates of N loss, even in the absence of climate variability. By consuming O-2 to nanomolar levels, aerobic nitrifying microbes cede their competitive advantage for scarce forms of N to anaerobic denitrifying bacteria. Because anaerobes cannot sustain their own low-O-2 niche, the physical O-2 supply restores competitive advantage to aerobic populations, resetting the cycle. The resulting ecosystem oscillations induce a unique geochemical signature within the ODZ-short-lived spikes of ammonium that are found in measured profiles. The microbial ecosystem dynamics also give rise to variable ratios of anammox to heterotrophic denitrification, providing a mechanism for the unexplained variability of these pathways observed in the ocean.
  • Source:
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(15), 7220-7225.
  • DOI:
  • Document Type:
    Journal Article
  • Funding:
    Grant no. NA15OAR4320063
  • Rights Information:
    Other
  • Compliance:
    Submitted
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha256:0cdbc4de1a34b3690a11cdd54cf9143a2aaa52bf3ca1ba96d8eb811fdfbd1653
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.06 MB ]
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