Articles | Volume 11, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6147-2014
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6147-2014
Research article
 | 
13 Nov 2014
Research article |  | 13 Nov 2014

The fractionation of nitrogen and oxygen isotopes in macroalgae during the assimilation of nitrate

P. K. Swart, S. Evans, T. Capo, and M. A. Altabet

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Cited articles

Altabet, M. A.: A time-series study of the vertical structure of nitrogen and particle dynamics in the Sargasso Sea, Limnol. Ocean., 34, 1185–1201, 1989.
Altabet, M. A., Deuser, W. G., Honjo, S., and Stienen, C.: Seasonal and depth-related changes in the source of sinking particles in the North-Atlantic, Nature, 354, 136–139, 1991.
Barford, C. C., Montoya, J. P., Altabet, M. A., and Mitchell, R.: Steady-state nitrogen isotope effects of N2 and N2O production in Paracoccus denitrificans, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 65, 989–994, 1999.
Carballeira, C., Viana, I. G., and Carballeira, A.: δ15N values of macroalgae as an indicator of the potential presence of waste disposal from land-based marine fish farms, J. Appl. Phycol., 25, 97–107, 2013.
Cohen, R. A. and Fong, P.: Experimental evidence supports the use of δ15N of the opportunistic green macroalga Enteromorpha intestinalis (Chlorophyta) to determine nitrogen sources to estuaries, J. Phy., 41, 287–293, 2005.
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The ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 of macroalgae has been termed the DNA of sewage. Higher amounts of N-15 have been suggested to indicate the influence of sewage-derived N. But what exactly does the ratio of 15N/14N record? We found that the nitrogen isotopic ratio was dependent upon not only the value in the water but also its concentration of nitrate. At low concentration there was little fractionation, but at higher values the uptake by algae left more of the N-15 in the water.
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