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Processes and patterns of oceanic nutrient limitation

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 701–710 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Microbial activity is a fundamental component of oceanic nutrient cycles. Photosynthetic microbes, collectively termed phytoplankton, are responsible for the vast majority of primary production in marine waters. The availability of nutrients in the upper ocean frequently limits the activity and abundance of these organisms. Experimental data have revealed two broad regimes of phytoplankton nutrient limitation in the modern upper ocean. Nitrogen availability tends to limit productivity throughout much of the surface low-latitude ocean, where the supply of nutrients from the subsurface is relatively slow. In contrast, iron often limits productivity where subsurface nutrient supply is enhanced, including within the main oceanic upwelling regions of the Southern Ocean and the eastern equatorial Pacific. Phosphorus, vitamins and micronutrients other than iron may also (co-)limit marine phytoplankton. The spatial patterns and importance of co-limitation, however, remain unclear. Variability in the stoichiometries of nutrient supply and biological demand are key determinants of oceanic nutrient limitation. Deciphering the mechanisms that underpin this variability, and the consequences for marine microbes, will be a challenge. But such knowledge will be crucial for accurately predicting the consequences of ongoing anthropogenic perturbations to oceanic nutrient biogeochemistry.

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Figure 1: Comparisons between intracellular and dissolved seawater elemental stoichiometry.
Figure 2: Example timescales and space scales of nutrient-related phenomena.
Figure 3: Patterns of nutrient limitation.

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Acknowledgements

This review results from the activities of the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Fast Track Initiative on Upper Ocean Nutrient Limitation and in particular a workshop hosted at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK. Financial support for the workshop was provided by IGBP, US Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and EU-COST-735.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

    C. M. Moore

  2. Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    M. M. Mills & K. R. Arrigo

  3. Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 5290002, Israel

    I. Berman-Frank

  4. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UVSQ, IPSL, CEA, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    L. Bopp

  5. Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Water and Atmosphere Centre of Chemical and Physical Oceanography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    P. W. Boyd

  6. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart, 7001, TAS, Australia

    P. W. Boyd

  7. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    E. D. Galbraith

  8. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK

    R. J. Geider

  9. Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche/Mer, CNRS-INSU UMR7093, Université Pierre et Marie Curie—Paris 6, Villefranche-sur-Mer, F-06230, France

    C. Guieu

  10. Department of Earth Sciences, Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH-8092, Switzerland

    S. L. Jaccard

  11. Laboratory for Global Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    T. D. Jickells

  12. Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (GEOMAR), Kiel, D-24105, Germany

    J. La Roche & A. Oschlies

  13. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    J. La Roche

  14. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK

    T. M. Lenton

  15. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14850, New York, USA

    N. M. Mahowald

  16. Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo, 36310, Spain

    E. Marañón

  17. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    I. Marinov

  18. Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, 92697, California, USA

    J. K. Moore

  19. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    T. Nakatsuka

  20. Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    M. A. Saito

  21. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, 5020, Norway

    T. F. Thingstad

  22. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    A. Tsuda

  23. Departamento de Oceanografía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, 4070386, Chile

    O. Ulloa

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Correspondence to C. M. Moore or M. M. Mills.

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Regulation of marine phytoplankton by two nutrient limitation regimes (PDF 5654 kb)

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Moore, C., Mills, M., Arrigo, K. et al. Processes and patterns of oceanic nutrient limitation. Nature Geosci 6, 701–710 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1765

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