Ammonium and phosphorus flux through the microplankton community in Agulhas Bank waters

The size-related activities of important heterotrophs and autotrophs were compared at the surface and at the subsurface chlorophyll maximum (Chl_max) in Agulhas Bank waters. The netplankton fraction was dominated by Nitzschia spp. and ciliates, small (diameter c. 3μm) microflagellates being the most abundant nanoplankton group. Uptake ratios of ammonium to phosphate for the total microplankton community were different at the two depths. With reference to the Redfield ratio, it appears that at least 48 per cent of the nitrogen ration at the Chl_max was regenerated even though nitrate was in ample supply. These assimilation ratios also suggest a very large contribution from recycled nitrogen other than ammonium in surface waters. It is unlikely that phosphorus would ever become limiting, except perhaps at the primary production maximum. Microplankton uptake and regeneration of both ammonium and phosphorus were approximately in balance, indicating that variations in assimilation ratios were the result of heterotrophic excretory activity. The size-fractionation studies show that picoplankton were on average the single most important size class in nutrient assimilation. The netplankton size class was, in terms of regeneration, often the most active in the microplankton community especially within the Chl_max. Heterotrophic microflagellates and picoplankton supplied the bulk of ammonium and phosphorus at the surface. The importance of a particular size class to either ammonium or phosphorus uptake/excretion was quantified as a relative assimilation/regeneration index. These calculations demonstrate size-related differences in the relative importance of the microplanktonic groups to the immobilization and recycling of different nutrients.