scholarly journals Assessment of Nutrient Limitation in Floodplain Forests with Two Different Techniques

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Neatrour ◽  
Robert H. Jones ◽  
Stephen W. Golladay
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Limitation ◽  
Root Length Density ◽  
Phosphorus Limitation ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Ingrowth Cores ◽  
P Limitation ◽  
N:P Ratios ◽  
Native Soil ◽  
Fine Root Length ◽  
Southern Georgia

We assessed nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in a floodplain forest in southern Georgia in USA using two commonly used methods: nitrogen to phosphorus (N:P) ratios in litterfall and fertilized ingrowth cores. We measured nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in litterfall to determine N:P mass ratios. We also installed ingrowth cores within each site containing native soil amended with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), or nitrogen and phosphorus (N + P) fertilizers or without added fertilizer (C). Litter N:P ratios ranged from 16 to 22, suggesting P limitation. However, fertilized ingrowth cores indicated N limitation because fine-root length density was greater in cores fertilized with N or N + P than in those fertilized with P or without added fertilizer. We feel that these two methods of assessing nutrient limitation should be corroborated with fertilization trials prior to use on a wider basis.

scholarly journals Exploring the distance between nitrogen and phosphorus limitation in mesotrophic surface waters using a sensitive bioassay

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enis Hrustić ◽  
Risto Lignell ◽  
Ulf Riebesell ◽  
Tron Frede Thingstad
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Incubation Time ◽  
Phosphorus Limitation ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Field Station ◽  
N Limitation ◽  
P Limitation ◽  
Two Samples

Abstract. The balance in microbial net consumption of nitrogen and phosphorus was investigated in samples collected in two mesotrophic coastal environments: the Baltic Sea (Tvärminne field station) and the North Sea (Espegrend field station). For this, we have refined a bioassay based on the response in alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) over a matrix of combinations in nitrogen and phosphorus additions. This assay not only provides information on which element (N or P) is the primary limiting nutrient, but also gives a quantitative estimate for the excess of the secondary limiting element (P+ or N+, respectively), as well as the ratio of balanced net consumption of added N and P over short timescales (days). As expected for a Baltic Sea late spring–early summer situation, the Tvärminne assays (n =  5) indicated N limitation with an average P+ =  0.30 ± 0.10 µM-P, when incubated for 4 days. For short incubations (1–2 days), the Espegrend assays indicated P limitation, but the shape of the response surface changed with incubation time, resulting in a drift in parameter estimates toward N limitation. Extrapolating back to zero incubation time gave P limitation with N+ ≈  0.9 µM-N. The N : P ratio (molar) of nutrient net consumption varied considerably between investigated locations: from 2.3 ± 0.4 in the Tvärminne samples to 13 ± 5 and 32 ± 3 in two samples from Espegrend. Our assays included samples from mesocosm acidification experiments, but statistically significant effects of ocean acidification were not found by this method.

scholarly journals Metabolic response of Botryococcus braunii to high bicarbonate dosages and other conditions: analysis of photosynthetic performance, productivity, and lipidomic profile

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Néstor David Giraldo ◽  
Sandra Marcela Correa ◽  
Andrés Arbeláez ◽  
Felix L. Figueroa ◽  
Rigoberto Ríos-Estepa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Limitation ◽  
Metabolic Response ◽  
Neutral Lipids ◽  
Biomass Productivity ◽  
Botryococcus Braunii ◽  
Photosynthetic Performance ◽  
Lipid Productivity ◽  
Cellular Growth ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus

AbstractIn this study the metabolic responses of Botryococcus braunii were analyzed upon different inorganic carbon dosages and nutrient limitation conditions in terms of lipid and biomass productivity, as well as photosynthetic performance. The nutritional schemes evaluated included different levels of sodium bicarbonate and nitrogen and phosphorus starvation, which were contrasted against standard cultures fed with CO2. Bicarbonate was found to be an advantageous carbon source since high dosages caused a significant increase in biomass and lipid productivity, in addition to an enhanced photosynthetic quantum yield and neutral lipids abundance. This contrasts to the commonly used approach of microalgae nutrient limitation, which leads to high lipid accumulation at the expense of impaired cellular growth, causing a decline in overall lipid productivity. The lipidome analysis served to hypothesize about the influence of the nutritional context on B. braunii structural and storage lipid metabolism, besides the adaptive responses exhibited by cells that underwent nutrient stress.

scholarly journals Phytoplankton productivity across prairie saline lakes of the Great Plains (USA): a step toward deciphering patterns through lake classification models

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 1435-1448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney R. Salm ◽  
Jasmine E. Saros ◽  
Sherilyn C. Fritz ◽  
Christopher L. Osburn ◽  
David M. Reineke
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
Nutrient Limitation ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Saline Lakes ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Classification Models ◽  
Phytoplankton Productivity ◽  
P Limitation

We investigated patterns of primary production across prairie saline lakes in the central and northern Great Plains of the United States. Based on comparative lake sampling in 2004, seasonal predictors of algal primary productivity were identified within subsets of similar lakes using a combination of Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) and classification and regression trees (CART). These models indicated complex patterns of nutrient limitation by nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and iron (Fe) within different lake groups. Nutrient enrichment assays (control, + Fe, + N, + P, + N + P) were performed in spring and summer of 2006 to determine if phytoplankton in selected lakes followed predicted patterns of nutrient limitation. Both the comparative lake sampling and experimental results indicated that N limitation was widespread in these prairie lakes, with evidence for secondary P limitation in certain lakes. In the experiments, iron did not stimulate primary production. Our results suggest that given the diverse geochemical nature of these lakes, classification models that separate saline lakes into subsets may be an effective method for improving predictions of algal production.

scholarly journals Active reconfiguration of cytoplasmic lipid droplets governs migration of nutrient-limited phytoplankton

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anupam Sengupta ◽  
Jayabrata Dhar ◽  
Francesco Danza ◽  
Arkajyoti Ghoshal ◽  
Sarah Elisabeth Mueller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Droplets ◽  
Red Tide ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Optimal Growth ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Phosphorus Limitation ◽  
Vertical Movement ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Motile Species

As open oceans continue to warm, modified currents and enhanced stratification exacerbate nitrogen and phosphorus limitation, constraining primary production. The ability to migrate vertically bestows motile phytoplankton a crucial – albeit energetically expensive – advantage toward vertically redistributing for optimal growth, uptake and resource storage in nutrient-limited water columns. However, this traditional view discounts the possibility that phytoplankton migration may be actively selected by the storage dynamics when nutrients turn limiting. Here we report that storage and migration in phytoplankton are coupled traits, whereby motile species harness energy storing lipid droplets (LDs) to biomechanically regulate migration in nutrient limited settings. LDs grow and translocate directionally within the cytoplasm to accumulate below the cell nucleus, tuning the speed, trajectory and stability of swimming cells. Nutrient reincorporation reverses the LD translocation, restoring the homeostatic migratory traits measured in population-scale millifluidic experiments. Combining intracellular LD tracking and quantitative morphological analysis of red-tide forming alga, Heterosigma akashiwo , along with a model of cell mechanics, we discover that the size and spatial localization of growing LDs govern the ballisticity and orientational stability of migration. The strain-specific shifts in migration which we identify here are amenable to a selective emergence of mixotrophy in nutrient-limited phytoplankton. We rationalize these distinct behavioral acclimatization in an ecological context, relying on concomitant tracking of the photophysiology and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and propose a dissipative mechanical energy budget for motile phytoplankton for alleviating nutrient limitation. The emergent resource acquisition strategies, enabled by distinct strain-specific migratory acclimatizing mechanisms, highlight the active role of the reconfigurable cytoplasmic LDs in vertical movement. By uncovering a mechanistic coupling between dynamics of intracellular changes to physiologically governed migration strategies, this work offers a tractable framework to delineate diverse strategies which phytoplankton may harness to maximize fitness and resource pool in nutrient-limited open oceans of the future.

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