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Seasonal Variation of Inorganic Nutrient Uptake by Heterotrophic Bacterioplankton in Jiaozhou Bay, North China

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Water, Air, & Soil Pollution: Focus

Abstract

The distribution patterns and factors affecting uptake rates and turnover times of dissolved inorganic nutrients by heterotrophic bacterioplankton (HB) in Jiaozhou Bay were studied based on in situ surveys and laboratory culturing. The uptake rates of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) by HB are limited by the temperature of the water and the concentration of dissolved organic carbon. The turnover times of DIP and DIN by HB are regulated by the concentrations of the nutrients and the numbers of HB, which show significant spatiotemporal variability in Jiaozhou Bay. HB may aggravate the P-limitation of phytoplankton by competing for phosphorus in summer in Jiaozhou Bay. HB play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and may increase the N:P ratio and the accumulation of DIN, thereby accelerating the imbalance of the N:P ratio in Jiaozhou Bay.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40036010), the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2006CB400602), and the Shandong Province Environmental Protection Administration of China (No. 2004040-1). We thank Dr J. Sun for assistance in the field observations and express our gratitude to the referees for the time and effort taken to improve our original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Ecology, Ocean University of China, 238 Songling Road, Qingdao, 266100, People’s Republic of China

    J. Bai, H. F. Zhang, J. L. Li, Z. Y. Li & D. M. Gao

  2. College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of China

    K. R. Li & D. Y. Liu

  3. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of China

    J. Zhang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Zhongshan Road North, Shanghai, 200062, People’s Republic of China

    J. Zhang

  5. East China Sea Environmental Monitoring Center of State Oceanic Administration, Shanghai, 200137, People’s Republic of China

    H. F. Zhang

  6. College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People’s Republic of China

    G. S. Liu

  7. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia

    D. Y. Liu

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  1. J. Bai
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  2. K. R. Li
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  4. J. Zhang
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  7. J. L. Li
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  8. Z. Y. Li
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  9. D. M. Gao
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Correspondence to K. R. Li.

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Bai, J., Li, K.R., Liu, D.Y. et al. Seasonal Variation of Inorganic Nutrient Uptake by Heterotrophic Bacterioplankton in Jiaozhou Bay, North China. Water Air Soil Pollut: Focus 7, 673–681 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11267-007-9124-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11267-007-9124-z

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