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Abstract Transitions in phytoplankton community composition are typically attributed to ecological succession even in physically dynamic upwelling systems like the California Current Ecosystem (CCE). An expected succession from a high‐chlorophyll (~ 10μg L−1) diatom‐dominated assemblage to a low‐chlorophyll (< 1.0μg L−1) non‐diatom dominated assemblage was observed during a 2013 summer upwelling event in the CCE. Using an interdisciplinary field‐based space‐for‐time approach leveraging both biogeochemical rate measurements and metatranscriptomics, we suggest that this successional pattern was driven primarily by physical processes. An annually recurring mesoscale eddy‐like feature transported significant quantities of high‐phytoplankton‐biomass coastal water offshore. Chlorophyll was diluted during transport, but diatom contributions to phytoplankton biomass and activity (49–62% observed) did not decline to the extent predicted by dilution (18–24% predicted). Under the space‐for‐time assumption, these trends infer diatom biomass and activity and were stimulated during transport. This is hypothesized to result from decreased contact rates with mortality agents (e.g., viruses) and release from nutrient limitation (confirmed by rate data nearshore), as predicted by the Disturbance‐Recovery hypothesis of phytoplankton bloom formation. Thus, the end point taxonomic composition and activity of the phytoplankton assemblage being transported by the eddy‐like feature were driven by physical processes (mixing) affecting physiological (release from nutrient limitation, increased growth) and ecological (reduced mortality) factors that favored the persistence of the nearshore diatoms during transit. The observed connection between high‐diatom‐biomass coastal waters and non‐diatom‐dominated offshore waters supports the proposed mechanisms for this recurring eddy‐like feature moving seed populations of coastal phytoplankton offshore and thereby sustaining their activity.
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Pervasive iron limitation at subsurface chlorophyll maxima of the California Current
Subsurface chlorophyll maximum layers (SCMLs) are nearly ubiquitous in stratified water columns and exist at horizontal scales ranging from the submesoscale to the extent of oligotrophic gyres. These layers of heightened chlorophyll and/or phytoplankton concentrations are generally thought to be a consequence of a balance between light energy from above and a limiting nutrient flux from below, typically nitrate (NO3). Here we present multiple lines of evidence demonstrating that iron (Fe) limits or with light colimits phytoplankton communities in SCMLs along a primary productivity gradient from coastal to oligotrophic offshore waters in the southern California Current ecosystem. SCML phytoplankton responded markedly to added Fe or Fe/light in experimental incubations and transcripts of diatom and picoeukaryote Fe stress genes were strikingly abundant in SCML metatranscriptomes. Using a biogeochemical proxy with data from a 40-y time series, we find that diatoms growing in California Current SCMLs are persistently Fe deficient during the spring and summer growing season. We also find that the spatial extent of Fe deficiency within California Current SCMLs has significantly increased over the last 25 y in line with a regional climate index. Finally, we show that diatom Fe deficiency may be common in the subsurface of major upwelling zones worldwide. Our results have important implications for our understanding of the biogeochemical consequences of marine SCML formation and maintenance.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1637632
- PAR ID:
- 10081221
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Volume:
- 115
- Issue:
- 52
- ISSN:
- 0027-8424
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 13300-13305
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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