Nutrient co‐limitation in the subtropical Northwest Pacific
Liu, Xin
Zhang, Ruifeng
Wen, Zuozhu
Liu, Jing
Zhou, Yaqian
Xu, Feipeng
Cai, Yihua
Zhou, Kuanbo
Cao, Zhimian
Zhu, Yuanli
Shi, Dalin
Achterberg, Eric P.
Dai, Minhan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10205
Persistent URL: http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/9910
Zhang, Ruifeng; 3 School of Oceanography Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai China
Wen, Zuozhu; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Liu, Jing; 1 Marine Biogeochemistry Division, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Germany
Zhou, Yaqian; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Xu, Feipeng; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Cai, Yihua; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Zhou, Kuanbo; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Cao, Zhimian; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Zhu, Yuanli; 4 Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources Hangzhou China
Shi, Dalin; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Achterberg, Eric P.; 1 Marine Biogeochemistry Division, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Germany
Dai, Minhan; 2 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Science Xiamen University Xiamen China
Abstract
Nutrients limiting phytoplankton growth in the ocean are a critical control on ocean productivity and can underpin predicted responses to climate change. The extensive western subtropical North Pacific is assumed to be under strong nitrogen limitation, but this is not well supported by experimental evidence. Here, we report the results of 14 factorial nitrogen–phosphorus–iron addition experiments through the Philippine Sea, which demonstrate a gradient from nitrogen limitation in the north to nitrogen–iron co‐limitation in the south. While nitrogen limited sites responded weakly to nutrient supply, co‐limited sites bloomed with up to ~60‐fold increases in chlorophyll a biomass that was dominated by initially undetectable diatoms. The transition in limiting nutrients and phytoplankton growth capacity was driven by a gradient in deep water nutrient supply, which was undetectable in surface concentration fields. We hypothesize that this large‐scale phytoplankton response gradient is both climate sensitive and potentially important for regulating the distribution of predatory fish.