The inhibition of marine nitrification by ocean disposal of carbon dioxide

Huesemann, Michael H.; Skillman, Ann D.; Crecelius, E.A.

doi:10.1016/s0025-326x(01)00194-1

Cited by 139 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Here, CO 2 -induced acidification of seawater has been shown to have a pronounced and detrimental effect on water column NH 3 oxidation activity. In agreement with previous work, we observed near-complete inhibition of NH 3 oxidation activity at pH 6.5 [Huesemann et al, 2002]. Yet, other studies on single-species cultures of Nitrosococcus oceanus and Nitrosomonas europaea found that their activity decreased, but remained detectable even at pH 5.5 and pH 5.4 respectively [Jones, 1992;Stein et al, 1997].…”

Section: Water Column Nh 3 Oxidationsupporting

confidence: 93%

Impact of ocean acidification on benthic and water column ammonia oxidation

Kitidis

Laverock

McNeill

et al. 2011

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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[1] Ammonia oxidation is a key microbial process within the marine N-cycle. Sediment and water column samples from two contrasting sites in the English Channel (mud and sand) were incubated (up to 14 weeks) in CO 2 -acidified seawater ranging from pH 8.0 to pH 6.1. Additional observations were made off the island of Ischia (Mediterranean Sea), a natural analogue site, where long-term thermogenic CO 2 ebullition occurs (from pH 8.2 to pH 7.6). Water column ammonia oxidation rates in English Channel samples decreased under low pH with near-complete inhibition at pH 6.5. Water column Ischia samples showed a similar though not statistically significant trend. However, sediment ammonia oxidation rates at all three locations were not affected by reduced pH. These observations may be explained by buffering within sediments or low-pH adaptation of the microbial ammonia oxidizing communities. Our observations have implications for modeling the future impact of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. Citation: Kitidis, V.,

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Section: Water Column Nh 3 Oxidationsupporting

confidence: 93%

Impact of ocean acidification on benthic and water column ammonia oxidation

Kitidis

Laverock

McNeill

et al. 2011

Geophys. Res. Lett.

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“…Keeping spatial and temporal variability and the limited duration of our experiments in mind, it is nevertheless instructive to use our results to estimate the potential overall impact of acidification on marine nitrification and associated nitrogen cycle processes. All published data indicate that ammonia oxidation slows as pH decreases (8,(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32), and our results are no different: Across multiple experiments conducted in high and low productivity regions of two oceans (Fig. 1), ammonia oxidation rates declined by 8-38% (Figs.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 49%

“…This more than twofold increase in surface ocean hydrogen ion concentrations [H + ] will be accompanied by increasing CO 2 partial pressures (pCO 2 ), increasing bicarbonate ion concentrations [HCO 3 − ], decreasing carbonate ion concentrations [CO 3 2− ], and multiple shifts in trace metal and nutrient chemistry (2)(3)(4). Predicting the responses of marine organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical processes to these fundamental changes in ocean chemistry is consequently a major scientific challenge (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Although marine bacteria and archaea constitute the majority of biomass in the sea, sustain a large percentage of global primary production, and govern biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen (10), we lack a clear understanding of how they will react to ocean acidification (9,11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Decadelong experimental acidification of freshwater lakes also terminated nitrification activity, and NH 4 + subsequently accumulated over the course of several years (20). Despite this clear sensitivity to pH, only a single study examined the effects of pH change on ammonia oxidation rates in the ocean, finding decreased rates following large pH changes (>0.5) in coastal waters (8). How predicted levels of atmospheric CO 2 -driven ocean acidification will affect ammonia oxidation rates throughout the ocean is not known.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Global declines in oceanic nitrification rates as a consequence of ocean acidification

Beman

Chow

King

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

316

260

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Ocean acidification produced by dissolution of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in seawater has profound consequences for marine ecology and biogeochemistry. The oceans have absorbed one-third of CO 2 emissions over the past two centuries, altering ocean chemistry, reducing seawater pH, and affecting marine animals and phytoplankton in multiple ways. Microbially mediated ocean biogeochemical processes will be pivotal in determining how the earth system responds to global environmental change; however, how they may be altered by ocean acidification is largely unknown. We show here that microbial nitrification rates decreased in every instance when pH was experimentally reduced (by 0.05-0.14) at multiple locations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Nitrification is a central process in the nitrogen cycle that produces both the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide and oxidized forms of nitrogen used by phytoplankton and other microorganisms in the sea; at the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series and Hawaii Ocean Time-series sites, experimental acidification decreased ammonia oxidation rates by 38% and 36%. Ammonia oxidation rates were also strongly and inversely correlated with pH along a gradient produced in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea (r 2 = 0.87, P < 0.05). Across all experiments, rates declined by 8-38% in low pH treatments, and the greatest absolute decrease occurred where rates were highest off the California coast. Collectively our results suggest that ocean acidification could reduce nitrification rates by 3-44% within the next few decades, affecting oceanic nitrous oxide production, reducing supplies of oxidized nitrogen in the upper layers of the ocean, and fundamentally altering nitrogen cycling in the sea.A tmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations are projected to double over the next century as human societies continue to burn fossil fuels and biomass (1), yet a large proportion of emitted anthropogenic CO 2 will dissolve in the ocean rather than accumulate in the atmosphere (1-4). Dissolution of CO 2 in seawater produces a weak acid that has decreased surface ocean pH by ∼0.1 below preindustrial levels, and an additional 0.3-0.4 decline is expected by the year 2100 (2, 4). This more than twofold increase in surface ocean hydrogen ion concentrations [H + ] will be accompanied by increasing CO 2 partial pressures (pCO 2 ), increasing bicarbonate ion concentrations [HCO 3 − ], decreasing carbonate ion concentrations [CO 3 2− ], and multiple shifts in trace metal and nutrient chemistry (2-4). Predicting the responses of marine organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical processes to these fundamental changes in ocean chemistry is consequently a major scientific challenge (5-9). Although marine bacteria and archaea constitute the majority of biomass in the sea, sustain a large percentage of global primary production, and govern biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nitrogen (10), we lack a clear understanding of how they will react to ocean acidification (9, 11).In an acidifying ocean, microbial comm...

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“…Hutchins et al (2007Hutchins et al ( , 2009 and Levitan et al (2007) found increased rates of nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium at high pCO 2 . Huesemann et al (2002) and Beman et al (2009) report reductions in nitrification under elevated CO 2 . The impact of realistic CO 2 variations on denitrification has not been examined ).…”

Section: Bacterial Respiration and Remineralizationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Will ocean acidification affect marine microbes?

2010

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The pH of the surface ocean is changing as a result of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and there are concerns about potential impacts of lower pH and associated alterations in seawater carbonate chemistry on the biogeochemical processes in the ocean. However, it is important to place these changes within the context of pH in the present-day ocean, which is not constant; it varies systematically with season, depth and along productivity gradients. Yet this natural variability in pH has rarely been considered in assessments of the effect of ocean acidification on marine microbes. Surface pH can change as a consequence of microbial utilization and production of carbon dioxide, and to a lesser extent other microbially mediated processes such as nitrification. Useful comparisons can be made with microbes in other aquatic environments that readily accommodate very large and rapid pH change. For example, in many freshwater lakes, pH changes that are orders of magnitude greater than those projected for the twenty second century oceans can occur over periods of hours. Marine and freshwater assemblages have always experienced variable pH conditions. Therefore, an appropriate null hypothesis may be, until evidence is obtained to the contrary, that major biogeochemical processes in the oceans other than calcification will not be fundamentally different under future higher CO2/lower pH conditions.

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The inhibition of marine nitrification by ocean disposal of carbon dioxide

Cited by 139 publications

References 22 publications

Impact of ocean acidification on benthic and water column ammonia oxidation

Impact of ocean acidification on benthic and water column ammonia oxidation

Global declines in oceanic nitrification rates as a consequence of ocean acidification

Will ocean acidification affect marine microbes?

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