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Carbon-13 isotopic fractionation as a measure of aquatic metabolism

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Abstract

The fixation of dissolved CO2 in organic matter during photosynthesis preferentially removes 12C from the water, causing the remaining HCO−3 to become enriched in the less abundant isotope, 13C. Respiration later releases part of this CO2 back into the water. Metabolically active aquatic communities thus can generate variations in both the chemical1–3 and isotopic4–7 compositions of the water surrounding them. We describe here experiments designed to establish the isotopic fractionation of carbon by the metabolism of two common coral reef organisms. We then show that the fractionation coefficient obtained for the metabolism of those organisms is also applicable to a reef community and may be used to estimate the metabolic rate of the community.

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Author notes

  1. S. V. Smith

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, PO Box 1346, Kaneohe, Hawaii, 96744, USA

    S. V. Smith

  2. Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, USA

    P. Kroopnick

Authors
  1. S. V. Smith
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  2. P. Kroopnick
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Smith, S., Kroopnick, P. Carbon-13 isotopic fractionation as a measure of aquatic metabolism. Nature 294, 252–253 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294252a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294252a0

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