Carbon isotopic composition of Trichodesmium spp. colonies off Bermuda: effects of colony mass and season |
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Authors: | Tchernov Dan; Lipschultz Fred |
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Institution: | 1 The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science POBox 469, 88103 Eilat, Israel
2 Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences 17 Biological Lane St Georges, GE 01, Bermuda |
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Abstract: | Colonies of Trichodesmium spp. are conspicuous, macroscopiccomponents of the life in tropical and subtropical oceans. Thelarge size and the morphology of the colony raise questionsregarding the mechanism of carbon supply for photosynthesis.Constraints on these mechanisms may be indicated by the stablecarbon isotopic composition (13C) that reflects the balancebetween carbon supply and speciation, as well as the growthrate and colony size. The 13C of Trichodesmium off Bermuda measuredhere revealed a strong correlation between size of individualcolonies and season. The smallest colonies, 2–7 µgC colony–1, showed the lightest 13C composition (–19),increasing to asymptotic values of –12 above 7 µgC colony–1. The average 13C of the colonies was lightestimmediately after the onset of stratification in the SargassoSea, gradually increasing by 4 to heavier values during thesummer. We propose that the mass effect is due to increaseduse of HCO3– by the larger colonies, whereas the seasonalinfluence may be related to changes in irradiance and pCO2 affectingthe internal carbon cycling. |
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