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Nutrient Limitation in Surface Waters of the Oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea: an Enrichment Microcosm Experiment

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

The growth rates of planktonic microbes in the pelagic zone of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are nutrient limited, but the type of limitation is still uncertain. During this study, we investigated the occurrence of N and P limitation among different groups of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic (pico-, nano-, and micro-) plankton using a microcosm experiment during stratified water column conditions in the Cretan Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). Microcosms were enriched with N and P (either solely or simultaneously), and the PO4 turnover time, prokaryotic heterotrophic activity, primary production, and the abundance of the different microbial components were measured. Flow cytometric and molecular fingerprint analyses showed that different heterotrophic prokaryotic groups were limited by different nutrients; total heterotrophic prokaryotic growth was limited by P, but only when both N and P were added, changes in community structure and cell size were detected. Phytoplankton were N and P co-limited, with autotrophic pico-eukaryotes being the exception as they increased even when only P was added after a 2-day time lag. The populations of Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus were highly competitive with each other; Prochlorococcus abundance increased during the first 2 days of P addition but kept increasing only when both N and P were added, whereas Synechococcus exhibited higher pigment content and increased in abundance 3 days after simultaneous N and P additions. Dinoflagellates also showed opportunistic behavior at simultaneous N and P additions, in contrast to diatoms and coccolithophores, which diminished in all incubations. High DNA content viruses, selective grazing, and the exhaustion of N sources probably controlled the populations of diatoms and coccolithophores.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the European Union Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013), grant agreement No. 228224, MESOAQUA project. We thank the captain and the crew of R/V Philia, as well as Panagiotis Vavilis and Dimitris Apostolakis, for their help at sea. We also wish to thank Frede T. Thingstad for his suggestions on the experimental design, as well as Tatiana M. Tsagaraki for her invaluable support in microcosm assembling and advice on statistical analysis. Thanks are also due to Snezana Zivanovic and Eleni Dafnomili for conducting nutrient analyses and Ioannis Tsakalakis for help with primary production measurements. Finally, we thank Sebastian Mas, Emilie Le Floc’h, and other members of MEDIMEER and ECOSYM teams for the installation and running of the mesocosm experiment on the new transportable floating in situ mesocosm platform with autonomous sensors deployed in the Cretan Sea in September 2011, simultaneously to the present investigation.

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Author notes

  1. S. Fodelianakis

    Present address: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  2. B. Mostajir

    Present address: Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation (MARBEC), UMR 9190, CNRS–Université de Montpellier–IFREMER–IRD, Montpellier, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Ex American Base Gournes, P.O. Box 2214, 71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    A. Tsiola, P. Pitta, I. Magiopoulos & S. Psarra

  2. Biology Department, Marine Ecology Laboratory, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    A. Tsiola, S. Fodelianakis & I. Magiopoulos

  3. Laboratoire d’Ecologie des Systèmes Marins Côtiers (ECOSYM), CNRS–Université Montpellier 2 & 1–Ifremer–IRD, Montpellier, France

    R. Pete & B. Mostajir

  4. Chemistry Department, Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    P. Mara

  5. INSU-CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, Villefranche sur Mer cedex, France

    T. Tanaka

  6. Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Observatoire Océanologie de Villefranche, Villefranche sur Mer cedex, France

    T. Tanaka

  7. Centre d’Ecologie Marine Expérimentale MEDIMEER, Mediterranean Center for Marine Ecosystem Experimental Research, CNRS–Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier, Sète, France

    B. Mostajir

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  1. A. Tsiola
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Tsiola, A., Pitta, P., Fodelianakis, S. et al. Nutrient Limitation in Surface Waters of the Oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea: an Enrichment Microcosm Experiment. Microb Ecol 71, 575–588 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-015-0713-5

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