Co-limitation by iron, silicate, and light of three Southern Ocean diatom species

Abstract. The effect of combined iron, silicate, and light co-limitation was investigated in two Southern Ocean diatom species, Chaetoceros dichaeta and Actinocyclus sp. and one cosmopolitan species, Chaetoceros debilis, all isolated in the Southern Ocean (SO). We found species specific differences in the level of nutrient limitation and its effect on physiological and morphological parameters.

Growth of all species tested was clearly co-limited by iron and silicate, reflected in a 4 to 40 times higher increase in cell numbers in the high iron, high silicate treatments compared with the controls. However, the effect of iron and silicate availability on chain length and frustules structures was species specific. Most drastic frustule malformation was found under iron and silicate co-limitation in C. dichaeta while Si limitation caused a strong cell elongation in both Chaetoceros species. Additional a significant increase in chain length was observed in these species under high iron conditions. Therefore, species composition in the SO is likely also indirectly affected by these nutrients via different effects on diatom grazing protection. These morphological changes reflect a potential as biological markers in sediments for the growth history of chain forming species.

High light conditions, comparable with light intensities found in the upper 28 m of the SO, showed a negative impact on growth of the endemic species C. dichaeta and Actinocyclus sp. This is in contrast to the assumed light limitation of SO diatoms and indicates an adaptation strategy to the deep mixing and resulting low light conditions in the SO. In contrast to that, the cosmopolitan species C. debilis was not negatively affected by increased light intensity, indicating adaptation to a broader light environment. These results suggest that light limitation of SO phytoplankton due to deep wind mixed layers may play a minor role than hitherto assumed.