Local versus basin-scale limitation of marine nitrogen fixation

Phosphorus versus nitrogen limitation in the marine environment ’

Nitrogen Fixation Among Marine Bacterioplankton

Nitrogen Fixation in Denitrified Marine Waters

Nitrogen fixation is an essential process that biologically transforms atmospheric dinitrogen gas to ammonia, therefore compensating for nitrogen losses occurring via denitrification and anammox. Currently, inputs and losses of nitrogen to the ocean resulting from these processes are thought to be spatially separated: nitrogen fixation takes place primarily in open ocean environments (mainly th...

Process-understanding of marine nitrogen fixation under global change

In view of the current increase in atmospheric pCO2 and concomitant changes in the marine environment, it is crucial to assess, understand, and predict future responses of ecologically relevant phytoplankton species. The diazotrophic cyanobacterium Trichodesmium erythraeum was found to respond strongly to elevated pCO2 by increasing growth, production rates, and N2 fixation. The magnitude of th...

A new perspective on environmental controls of marine nitrogen fixation

Growing slowly, marine N2 fixers are generally expected to be competitive only where nitrogen (N) supply is low relative to that of phosphorus (P) with respect to the cellular N:P ratio (R) of nonfixing phytoplankton. This is at odds with observed high N2 fixation rates in the oligotrophic North Atlantic where the ratio of nutrients supplied to the surface is elevated in N relative to the avera...