Journal ArticleDOI
Nutrient Limitation of Net Primary Production in Marine Ecosystems
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TLDR
There is a feeling among many limnologists and environmental engineers who study lakes that marine ecosystems also probably are phosphorus limited, and environmental management agencies often assume that phosphorus limitation in marine ecosystems is the rule.Abstract:
The question of nutrient limitation of primary production in estuaries and other marine ecosystems has engendered a great deal of debate. Although nitrogen is often named as the primary limiting nutrient in seawater (3, 17-19, 50, 52, 55, 61, 76, 80), this is by no means universally accepted. Many workers have argued that phosphorus is limiting (58, 71), that both nitrogen and phosphorus can simultaneously be limiting (9), or that primary production can switch seasonally from being nitrogen-limited to phosphorus-limited (6, 46). Others argue that nutrients are not limiting at all in many marine ecosystems, including highly oligotrophic waters (15). To some extent these disagreements result from poor communication due to different definitions of nutrient limitation. Considerable argument also occurs over the various methods and approaches used to estimate nutrient limitation. Limnologists in particular have tended to be critical of the methods often used to study nutrient limitation in marine ecosystems (23). Nutrient limitation in lakes has historically received more study than that in estuaries, and most mesotrophic and eutrophic north-temperate lakes are phosphorus limited (8, 62, 63, 66, 81). Thus, there is a feeling among many limnologists and environmental engineers who study lakes that marine ecosystems also probably are phosphorus limited. Lacking strong mechanistic arguments to explain why nutrient limitation might be different in estuaries than in lakes, environmental management agencies often assume that phosphorus limitation in marine ecosystems is the rule.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Modeling biogeochemical processes in subterranean estuaries: Effect of flow dynamics and redox conditions on submarine groundwater discharge of nutrients
TL;DR: In this article, a two-dimensional density-dependent reactive transport model was used to investigate the fate of nutrients (NO3 −, NH4 +, and PO4) in idealized subterranean estuaries representing four end-members of oxic/anoxic aquifer and seawater redox conditions.
Journal ArticleDOI
The effects of large igneous provinces on the global carbon and sulphur cycles
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized the sources and sinks of carbon and sulphur from large scale volcanism and magmatism using information from modern and ancient systems, and explored the relative contributions and importance of magma-derived degassing versus volatile release from sediments affected by igneous intrusions and lava.
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Phytoplankton ecology of North Carolina estuaries
TL;DR: In this article, a solar-driven pattern of phytoplankton productivity and abundance following water temperature seasonal fluctuations was observed, and a secondary forcing mechanism consisting of a complex interaction between meteorology and hydrology, resulting in periodic winter or early spring algal blooms and productivity pulses in lower riverine estuaries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Annual cycle of microalgal biomass in a South African temporarily-open estuary: nutrient versus light limitation
TL;DR: Investigation of variations in the biomass of phyto- plankton and microphytobenthos in relation to major factors potentially controlling their dynamics in a subtropical temporarily-open estuary suggests nutrients rather than light might have limited phytoplankton growth during the closed phase of the estuary.
Journal ArticleDOI
Seasonal dynamics of inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton biomass in the NW Alboran Sea
Teodoro Ramírez,Dolores Cortés,Jesús M. Mercado,Manuel Vargas-Yáñez,Marta Sebastián,E. Liger +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the seasonal dynamics of inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a), and its relation with hydrological features, was studied in the NW Alboran Sea during four cruises conducted in February, April, July and October 2002.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Particulate organic matter flux and planktonic new production in the deep ocean
TL;DR: The primary production in the oceans results from allochthonous nutrient inputs to the euphotic zone (new production) and from nutrient recycling in the surface waters (regenerated production) as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Eutrophication in the Coastal Marine Environment
TL;DR: Removal of phosphate from detergents is not likely to slow the eutrophication of coastal marine waters, and its replacement with nitrogen-containing nitrilotriacetic acid may worsen the situation.
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Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton in freshwater and marine environments: A review of recent evidence on the effects of enrichment1
R. E. Hecky,Peter Kilham +1 more
TL;DR: It is concluded that the extent and severity of N limitation in the marine environment remain an open question, despite the fact that by the late seventies the evidence for P limitation had become so great that phosphorus control was recommended as the legislated basis for controlling eutrophication in North American and European inland waters.