Description: Serial dilution experiments were conducted on JGOFS-North Atlantic cruise of RV 'Meteor' M36/2 at a 20° W transect in June and July 1996 to assess the role of microzooplankton grazing and nitrogen supply in controlling phytoplankton stocks in the subtropical and temperate northeast Atlantic. Rates of microzooplankton grazing ranged from 0.08 d-1 at 54° N to 0.53 d-1 at 40° N and mean growth rates of phytoplankton ranged from 0.19 d-1 at 54° N to 0.75 d-1 at 40° N. Both rates were positively related to seawater temperature, whereas the apparent growth yield of phytoplankton declined with increasing temperature from 0.19 µg chl a dm-3 d-1 at 54° N to 0.01 µg chl a dm-3 d-1 at 33° N. Complete nitrogen saturation of phytoplankton growth indicated light or non-nitrogenous limitation at the nitracline at 47° N and in the deep chlorophyll maximum at 33° N, whereas in the mixed layer at 47° N and 54° N the ambient nitrogen supply was sub-saturated and yielded 63 and 39% of nitrogen- saturated growth. Nitrogen supply of phytoplankton growth was dominated by external and cellular sources in nitrate-rich waters of the mixed layer at 54° N and at the nitracline at 47° N, whereas nitrogen regeneration dominated at the nitrate-depleted surface waters at 47° N. However, in the deep chlorophyll maxima at 33° N and 40° N phytoplankton growth was primarily maintained by nitrogen regeneration, although external nitrogen was sufficiently available. The recycling efficiency of the microbial community was defined as the ratio of regenerated growth yield to herbivorous grazing loss. Efficiencies of ~100% under post-bloom situations indicated tight coupling of predation, nitrogen supply and phytoplankton growth. We suggest that microzooplankton grazing has a high potential for nitrogen supply and biomass control of phytoplankton communities during summer in the temperate and subtropical northeast Atlantic.

Description: This review provides an assessment of sediment trap accuracy issues by gathering data to address trap hydrodynamics, the problem of zooplankton "swimmers," and the solubilization of material after collection. For each topic, the problem is identified, its magnitude and causes reviewed using selected examples, and an update on methods to correct for the potential bias or minimize the problem using new technologies is presented. To minimize hydrodynamic biases due to flow over the trap mouth, the use of neutrally buoyant sediment traps is encouraged. The influence of swimmers is best minimized using traps that limit zooplankton access to the sample collection chamber. New data on the impact of different swimmer removal protocols at the US time-series sites HOT and BATS are compared and shown to be important. Recent data on solubilization are compiled and assessed suggesting selective losses from sinking particles to the trap supernatant after collection, which may alter both fluxes and ratios of elements in long term and typically deeper trap deployments. Different methods are needed to assess shallow and short- term trap solubilization effects, but thus far new incubation experiments suggest these impacts to be small for most elements. A discussion of trap calibration methods reviews independent assessments of flux, including elemental budgets, particle abundance and flux modeling, and emphasizes the utility of U-Th radionuclide calibration methods.

Description: The accuracy of species-specific phytoplankton growth rates estimated by cell cycle analysis was tested with the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum (Pav.) Sch. under conditions of altered nitrogen and phosphorus availability. Reduced nutrient availability caused major changes in the duration of cell cycle phases. At the nutrient level of complete f/2 media, the length of the combination of S, G2, and M phases was about 8 h at growth rates of 0.53 to 0.56 d-' A decrease in ~ 0 ,o~r N-O3 concentration extended the S+G2+M phase to about 15.5 to 17.7 h at growth rates ranging from 0.41 to 0.30 d-' Changes in phase durations dld not significantly affect growth rate estimates. In addition, a minimum growth rate, calculated from the maximum values on phase fraction curves, was shown to be usable as an error detector in some cases. Results support the validity of cell cycle analysis to measure in situ growth rates.