Nitrogen Cycling in the Ocean: New Perspectives on Processes and Paradigms
Year: 2002
Type: review
Abstract: The nitrogen (N) cycle is composed of multiple transformations of nitrogenous compounds, catalyzed primarily by microbes. The N cycle controls the availability of nitrogenous nutrients and biological productivity in marine systems (84) and thus is linked to the fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide and export of carbon from the ocean’s surface (30). Human activities are influencing the N cycle even in the oceans (100), and some of the nitrogenous gaseous products of microbial metabolism are greenhouse gases that are potentially involved in controlling Earth’s climate. The last decade has brought the discovery of several new links and changes in our understanding of components of the marine N cycle. Much of our basic information about the N cycle is derived from measurements of transformation rates or from experiments with cultivated isolates. Generalization from
Authors: Jonathan P. Zehr, Bess B. Ward
Institutions: University of California, Santa Cruz, Princeton University
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2137381673