Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03553-w
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Funding
- Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology (SCOPE award) [329108]
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation [3778]
- NSF [OCE-1315201, OCE-1558702, 1434007, OCE-1241263, OCE-1241093]
- SCOPE [329108]
- Division Of Ocean Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1558702, 1434007] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Microorganisms oxidize organic nitrogen to nitrate in a series of steps. Nitrite, an intermediate product, accumulates at the base of the sunlit layer in the subtropical ocean, forming a primary nitrite maximum, but can accumulate throughout the sunlit layer at higher latitudes. We model nitrifying chemoautotrophs in a marine ecosystem and demonstrate that microbial community interactions can explain the nitrite distributions. Our theoretical framework proposes that nitrite can accumulate to a higher concentration than ammonium because of differences in underlying redox chemistry and cell size between ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizing chemoautotrophs. Using ocean circulation models, we demonstrate that nitrifying microorganisms are excluded in the sunlit layer when phytoplankton are nitrogen-limited, but thrive at depth when phytoplankton become light-limited, resulting in nitrite accumulation there. However, nitrifying microorganisms may coexist in the sunlit layer when phytoplankton are iron-or light-limited (often in higher latitudes). These results improve understanding of the controls on nitrification, and provide a framework for representing chemoautotrophs and their biogeochemical effects in ocean models.
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