Gross oxygen production (GP), dark respiration (DR) and net community production (NCP) were studied for 16 mo in the euphotic layer of 3 stations through the coastal transitional zone of the southern Bay of Biscay, and related to hydrographic and nutrient conditions, phytoplankton biomass and C incorporation. Microbial O2 fluxes exhibited seasonal patterns linked to the seasonal cycle of water column stratification and mixing, with positive NCP during the spring, negative throughout the summer and close to zero in winter. This pattern was altered at coastal regions, where productive periods were linked to coastal upwelling, whereas in winter persistent net heterotrophy was measured, presumably in relation to increases in organic matter discharge of continental origin. The comparison of NCP with O2 anomaly and No3 concentration in the euphotic zone, the spatial and temporal scales studied and the prevalence of steady-state conditions offshore support the conclusion that the maintenance of summer heterotrophy in the region was based upon the consumption of the surplus of organic matter produced in spring. The uncoupling in the microbial auto-and heterotrophic metabolisms, based on the accumulation and delayed consumption of dissolved organic matter as a consequence of the processes controlling phytoplankton growth and microbial heterotrophic activity in temperate seas, would explain such a pattern. The close relationshp observed between the seasonal variability in NCP and the magnitude of spring net production and predictions derived from the seasonal cycles of O2 anomaly in middle latitudes and atmospheric O2 led us to conclude that the seasonal compensation of production and respiration processes is a characteristic of the dynamics of the pelagic ecosystem, at least in coastal temperate seas. The implications of this conclusion are of great relevance for the interpretation of new production and the estimation of the trophic status of the ocean from direct measurements of plankton net production.

[1] The southern Bay of Biscay is a very active region in terms of hydrography due to the interannual variations of its Central Waters, the recurrence of mesoscale features such as slope currents and upwellings, and the freshwater discharges from land. This highly dynamic physical environment influences to a great extent the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients beyond the seasonal cycle typical of middle latitudes. By using a monthly time series (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) of nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and silicate consisting of three stations placed along a cross-shelf transect, we assess the role of the physical forcing on nutrient seasonal and interannual dynamics within the upper 200 m, as well as the interactions with the biological component. The seasonal cycles of all nutrients and the stoichiometric balances (N:P and Si:N) are characterized along this coastal-oceanic gradient. The year-to-year variations in the extent of the winter replenishment are analyzed in relation to the background Central Waters and presence/absence of the Iberian Poleward Current. In the long term we report decreasing linear trends of nitrate, nitrite, and silicate as well as an uncoupled nonlinear variation (i.e., cyclical) for all nutrients. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of this complex long-term forcing on the phytoplankton: the linear trends are probably related to a decreasing primary production rate, while the nonlinear forcing may be responsible for controlling the community structure of phytoplankton.

We have supplemented available, concurrent measurements of fresh weight (W, g) and body carbon (C, g) (46 individuals, 14 species) and nitrogen (N, g) (11 individuals, 9 species) of marine gelatinous animals with data obtained during the global ocean MALASPINA 2010 Expedition (totalling 267 individuals and 33 species for the W versus C data; totalling 232 individuals and 31 species for the N versus C data). We then used those data to test the allometric properties of the W versus C and N versus C relationships. Overall, gelatinous organisms contain 1.13 + 1.57% of C (by weight, mean + SD) in their bodies and show a C:N of 4.56 + 2.46, respectively, although estimations can be improved by using separate conversion coefficients for the carnivores and the filter feeders. Reduced major axis regression indicates that W increases isometrically with C in the carnivores (cnidarians and ctenophores), implying that their water content can be described by a single conversion coefficient of 173.78 gW(g C) 21 , or a C content of 1.17 + 1.90% by weight, although there is much variability due to the existence of carbon-dense species. In contrast, W increases more rapidly than C in the filter feeders (salps and doliolids), according to a power relationship W ¼ 446.68C 1.54. This exponent is not significantly different from 1.2, which is consistent with the idea that the watery bodies of gelatinous animals represent an evolutionary response towards increasing food capture surfaces, i.e. a bottom-up rather than a top-down mechanism. Thus, the available evidence negates a bottom-up mechanism in the carnivores, but supports it in the filter feeders. Last, N increases isometrically with C in both carnivores and filter

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