Effect of iron and manganese supply on a natural phytoplankton community of the Weddell Sea and further consequence for carbon export

This study highlights the importance of manganese (Mn) next to iron (Fe) for the growth of specific Southern Ocean phytoplankton groups with important implications for carbon export in the Weddell Sea. A Fe-Mn bottle amendment experiment and an aggregation experiment were performed with a natural phytoplankton community during Polarstern expedition PS124 in 2021 in the Weddell Sea. At this location, seawater was pumped (using trace metals clean techniques) from 25 m depth to fill polycarbonate bottles. The Control treatment consist of the sampled seawater without any trace metals addition, while the other three treatments were enriched with either FeCl₃ alone (0.5 nM; +Fe treatment) or MnCl₂ alone (1 nM; +Mn treatment) or both trace metals together (+FeMn treatment). All treatments were done in triplicate 2.5 L PC bottles. After on average 7 days, samples for chlorophyll a content, particulate organic carbon and primary production were taken to detect FeMn co-limitation effect on species composition, primary production and carbon export. Results showed that when Fe and Mn were added together, primary production rates were highest due to an increased abundance of the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica. This change within the phytoplankton community led to highly carbon-enriched aggregates and a four-fold increase in the carbon export potential compared to the doubling in the only Fe treatment. Our findings highlight that even small changes in plankton community composition can have significant effects on the carbon export potential of the Southern Ocean, a region of critical importance for anthropogenic carbon dioxide drawdown.

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Cite this as

Balaguer, Jenna, Koch, Florian, Flintrop, Clara, Völkner, Christian, Iversen, Morten Hvitfeldt, Trimborn, Scarlett (2023). Dataset: Effect of iron and manganese supply on a natural phytoplankton community of the Weddell Sea and further consequence for carbon export. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.957278

DOI retrieved: 2023

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 29, 2024
Last update November 29, 2024
License CC-BY-4.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.957278
Author Balaguer, Jenna
Given Name Jenna
Family Name Balaguer
More Authors
Koch, Florian
Flintrop, Clara
Völkner, Christian
Iversen, Morten Hvitfeldt
Trimborn, Scarlett
Source Creation 2023
Publication Year 2023
Resource Type text/tab-separated-values - filename: PS124_68-1_PythoFeMn
Subject Areas
Name: Biosphere

Name: Chemistry

Related Identifiers
Title: Iron and manganese availability drive primary production and carbon export in the Weddell Sea
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Source: Current Biology
Authors: Balaguer Jenna , Koch Florian , Flintrop Clara , Völkner Christian , Iversen Morten Hvitfeldt , Trimborn Scarlett .