Nitrogen fixation in an oligotrophic, saline desert lake: Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Horne, Alexander J.; Galat, David L.

doi:10.4319/lo.1985.30.6.1229

Cited by 60 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The increase in relative importance of nitrogen-fixing cyanophytes observed in Joseph Lake cannot be explained by a reduction in Fe availability but, because P concentrations were much lower in 1987 than in 1994 and biovolumes were more than 10 times as high, this lake may have been P limited in 1987. Inorganic carbon uptake in these shallow lakes is not likely to be pH limited, in contrast to the situation in saline Pyramid Lake (mean depth, 59 m), where the high pH of lake water is believed to restrict access to free carbon dioxide in all but the top 50 cm and thereby acts to limit N, fixation (Horne and Galat 1985).…”

Section: Birchmentioning

confidence: 83%

Relative importance of iron and molybdenum in restricting phytoplankton biomass in high phosphorus saline lakes

Evans¹,

Prepas²

1997

Limnol. Oceanogr.

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Eleven prairie saline (conductivity 1.8-58.8 mS cm-') lakes were examined over the 1994 growing season to determine what salinity-related factor or factors were responsible for controlling phytoplankton standing crops. The study lakes were characterized by high total P (0.15-24.2 mg liter-'), total N (3.75-12.35 mg liter-'), total Fe (55-2,800 p,g liter-'), dissolved organic C (40-195 mg liter-l), pH and alkalinity, but comparatively low (usually cl00 kg liter-') dissolved inorganic N. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations in all but the two least saline lakes were relatively low (20 pg liter-'), up to three orders of magnitude below those predicted by freshwater P-based models. High alkaline phosphatase activities (APA) and rapid '2P0, (orthophosphate) uptake indicated that the two least saline lakes were P limited; these lakes had seston deficient in P, N, and protein. APA and "2P0, uptake were below detection in the more saline lakes (conductivity >3 mS cm-'), indicating P sufficiency; seston from these lakes was deficient in N but not protein. Nitrogen-fixing cyanophytes were important only in one of the lakes examined. Nutrient addition bioassays indicated that phytoplankton biomass was not limited exclusively by inorganic N availability, nor by a combination of MO and N. For water from all but one of the P-sufficient lakes, addition of Fe to bioassays resulted in a remarkable increase in Chl a concentrations. Addition of Fe and MO had the same effect as that of Fe alone, while the most saline lake appeared to be limited by one or more additional trace elements (but not MO). Reducing the alkalinity of the bioassay water stimulated growth in the same manner as the Fe additions, suggesting that the bioavailability of the (largely particulate) Fe already present was severely restricted by lakewater alkalinity. Some component of lake-water alkalinity (which increased with conductivity in these lakes) appears to be the key factor limiting Fe bioavailability and restricting phytoplankton standing crops in the higher salinity lakes.

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Section: Birchmentioning

confidence: 83%

Relative importance of iron and molybdenum in restricting phytoplankton biomass in high phosphorus saline lakes

Evans¹,

Prepas²

1997

Limnol. Oceanogr.

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“…2), probably due to a combination of the aforementioned water column mixing plus increased river flows. This also reduced Nodularia's other competitive advantage, the ability to fix atmospheric N 2 (Horne & Galat 1985). Under more N replete conditions, smaller and relatively fast growing phytoplankton (in this case diatoms and dinoflagellates) outcompete Nodularia.…”

Section: Environmental Factors In Situmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental controls on the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena in a temperate lagoon system in SE Australia

Holland¹,

Erp²,

Beardall³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Estuarine blooms of N 2 -fixing cyanobacteria are rare, and the factors controlling them remain poorly understood outside the Baltic Sea. We measured in situ physico-chemical conditions and undertook nutrient-addition bioassays and dilution-based grazing experiments fortnightly over the 2010 to 2011 Austral spring-summer-autumn, to evaluate the role of physical environmental drivers, grazing and macronutrients on the growth of Nodularia spumigena Mertens (hereafter Nodularia) in a temperate lagoon system (Gippsland Lakes, Australia). Nodularia appeared in late summer, following a period of warm weather (water temperature > 22°C), high solar exposure, calm conditions, relatively low salinity (< 22) and low dissolved inorganic nitrogen (~0.4 µmol l ) in control bioassays (no nutrients added), whereas other phytoplankton taxa showed zero or negative growth. N addition caused significantly lower Nodularia growth, while other taxa had higher growth. P addition did not significantly enhance Nodularia growth. This suggests Nodularia was able to obtain P from the water column and from phytoplankton breakdown. A reduction in grazing pressure via dilution led to lower growth rates of Nodularia and higher growth rates of other phytoplankton taxa. This suggests that the grazers selectively consumed taxa other than Nodularia, and that grazing positively influences Nodularia growth in this system. These data indicate that Nodularia growth was limited in situ by physical conditions (primarily solar radiation) and that nutrients and grazing were of second order importance. KEY WORDS: Nodularia spumigena · Nutrient limitation · Grazing · BioassayResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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“…Fixation of atmospheric N 2 accounts for more than 80% of the N input in some of these environments, thereby sustaining a significant fraction of the new production (Granhall and Lundgren, 1971;Horne and Galat, 1985). However, other N-limited aquatic systems do not display significant N 2 fixation rates (Howarth et al, 1988b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significant N2 fixation by heterotrophs, photoheterotrophs and heterocystous cyanobacteria in two temperate estuaries

et al. 2014

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Nitrogen (N) fixation is fueling planktonic production in a multitude of aquatic environments. In meso-and poly-haline estuaries, however, the contribution of N by pelagic N 2 fixation is believed to be insignificant due to the high input of N from land and the presumed absence of active N 2 -fixing organisms. Here we report N 2 fixation rates, nifH gene composition and nifH gene transcript abundance for key diazotrophic groups over 1 year in two contrasting, temperate, estuarine systems: Roskilde Fjord (RF) and the Great Belt (GB) strait. Annual pelagic N 2 fixation rates averaged 17 and 61 mmol N m À 2 per year at the two sites, respectively. In RF, N 2 fixation was mainly accompanied by transcripts related to heterotrophic (for example, Pseudomonas sp.) and photoheterotrophic bacteria (for example, unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria group A). In the GB, the first of two N 2 fixation peaks coincided with a similar nifH-expressing community as in RF, whereas the second peak was synchronous with increased nifH expression by an array of diazotrophs, including heterotrophic organisms as well as the heterocystous cyanobacterium Anabaena. Thus, we show for the first time that significant planktonic N 2 fixation takes place in mesohaline, temperate estuaries and that the importance of heterotrophic, photoheterotrophic and photosynthetic diazotrophs is clearly variable in space and time.

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Nitrogen fixation in an oligotrophic, saline desert lake: Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Cited by 60 publications

References 30 publications

Relative importance of iron and molybdenum in restricting phytoplankton biomass in high phosphorus saline lakes

Relative importance of iron and molybdenum in restricting phytoplankton biomass in high phosphorus saline lakes

Environmental controls on the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena in a temperate lagoon system in SE Australia

Significant N2 fixation by heterotrophs, photoheterotrophs and heterocystous cyanobacteria in two temperate estuaries

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