Variations in the phytoplankton community due to dust additions in eutrophication, LNLC and HNLC oceanic zones

Abstract Dust deposition can bring nutrients and trace elements to the upper ocean and affect phytoplankton growth and community structure. We conducted a comparative study using on-board microcosm experiments amended with varying amounts of dust (0.2, 1, and 2 mg L −1 ) in the East China Sea (eutrophic zone), the subtropical gyre (low-nutrient and low-chlorophyll zone, LNLC), and the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition region (high-nutrient and low-chlorophyll zone, HNLC) of the Northwest Pacific Ocean. The additions of dust supplied a considerable amount of nitrogen (N) and negligible phosphorus (P) relative to the seawater collected for incubation experiments (baseline), contributing to increases in Chlorophyll a with increasing dust additions. Significant linear correlations were observed between the net growth rates of larger cells (i.e., micro-size: >20 μm and nano-size: 2–20 μm) and available N (sum of baseline and added N) at each zone, demonstrating that phytoplankton size structure shifts towards larger cells with the increasing dust additions. In the experiments conducted in LNLC and HNLC zones, micro-sized phytoplankton (primarily consisting of diatoms) benefited most from dust additions. In the experiments conducted in eutrophic zone, however, the primary beneficiary was the nano-sized phytoplankton (primarily consisting of dinoflagellates). When a time lag of one day in relative abundance of diatoms (RAD, the abundance of diatoms divided by the sum of diatoms and dinoflagellates) relative to the N:P ratio was considered, we found the RAD increased substantially with increases in the N:P ratio until the ratio approached the Redfield ratio (N:P = 16:1), and then the RAD decreased gradually as the N:P ratio increased. This was ascribed to the lower sensitivity of dinoflagellates to nutrient shortage, relative to diatoms. Overall, our results suggested that the overwhelming input of N relative to P by dust deposition might cause significant ecological impacts by altering the N:P ratio of varying trophic seawaters.