Seasonal and spatial variations in pelagic community respiration on the southeastern U.S. continental shelf

Pelagic microbial community respiratory rates on the southeastern continental shelf show strong seasonal changes, with summer maxima and winter minima. In nearshore waters 40 m, strongly influenced by the Gulf Stream, community respiration is 0.1–2.7 μM O 2 l −1 h −1, exceeding primary production in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Continental shelf research 1995, Vol.15 (7), p.815-825
Main Authors: Griffith, Peter C., Pomeroy, Lawrence R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Marine
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Summary:Pelagic microbial community respiratory rates on the southeastern continental shelf show strong seasonal changes, with summer maxima and winter minima. In nearshore waters 40 m, strongly influenced by the Gulf Stream, community respiration is 0.1–2.7 μM O 2 l −1 h −1, exceeding primary production in summer. The changes in microbial community respiration are partially explained by changes in bacterial numbers. A related potential cause is the inverse relationship between limiting substrate concentration and temperature, affecting rates of growth and respiration, that has been found to exist for aerobic heterotrophy bacterial isolates in the laboratory. These processes result in shifts between net autotrophy in winter and net heterotrophy in summer for the community as a whole, with little excess organic production remaining for export to the ocean's interior.
ISSN:0278-4343
1873-6955
DOI:10.1016/0278-4343(94)00040-T