Stable isotopes of N provide a new approach to the study of algal production in the ocean, yet know!edge of the isctopc fractionation (c) in various oceanic regime5 is i d~k i~~y .tiere w e report large and rapid changes in isotope composit~on (6'") of 2 coastal diatoms and 2 clones (open and coastal) of a coccolithophore grown in the simultaneous presence of nitrate, ammonium and urea under varylng conditions of N availability (i.e. N-sufficiency and N-starvation followed by N-resupply) and hence different physiological states. Du.ring N-sufficiency, the SI5N of particulate organic N (PON) was well reproduced, uslng a model derived from Rayleigh distillation theory, with constant E similar to that for growth on each individual N source. However, following N-resupply, the variations in S15NpoU could be well explained only in the case of the open ocean Emiliania huxleyi, with E similar to N-sufficient conditions. It was concluded that the mechanism of isotope fractionation changed rapidly with N availability for the 3 coastal clones. However, in the case of E. huxleyi isolated from the Subarctic Pacific Ocean, no evidence of a change in mechanism was found, suggesting that perhaps open ocean species can quickly recover from N-depleted conditions.

Long-term monitoring of water quality and phytoplankton was conducted at 19 sampling stations in Harima-Nada, eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan for 35 years from 1973 to 2007. There were two significant long-term changes, an increase in winter water temperatures of 0.042°C year −1 , and a decrease in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) from about 10 μM in the 1970s to~5 μM in the late 1990s due to the reduction in nutrient inputs. DIN concentrations and total phytoplankton cell density were both higher during the 1970s to the early 1980s and then exhibited a significant decrease in the mid 1980s and remained relatively constant thereafter. Diatoms were the dominant phytoplankton group (>90%) over the 35-year period, and there was a dramatic shift from Skeletonema dominance (~70%) to Chaetoceros in the mid 1980s. This shift in diatom species may be attributed to differences in the life cycle of Skeletonema and Chaetoceros and the response to the decrease in DIN concentration.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract