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Science 12 August 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5737, pp. 1068 - 1071
DOI: 10.1126/science.1112632
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Reports

Nature of Phosphorus Limitation in the Ultraoligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean

T. F. Thingstad,1* M. D. Krom,2 R. F. C. Mantoura,3,4 G. A. F. Flaten,1 S. Groom,3 B. Herut,5 N. Kress,5 C. S. Law,3,6 A. Pasternak,7 P. Pitta,8 S. Psarra,8 F. Rassoulzadegan,9 T. Tanaka,1,9 A. Tselepides,8 P. Wassmann,7 E. M. S. Woodward,3 C. Wexels Riser,7 G. Zodiatis,10 T. Zohary11

Phosphate addition to surface waters of the ultraoligotrophic, phosphorus-starved eastern Mediterranean in a Lagrangian experiment caused unexpected ecosystem responses. The system exhibited a decline in chlorophyll and an increase in bacterial production and copepod egg abundance. Although nitrogen and phosphorus colimitation hindered phytoplankton growth, phosphorous may have been transferred through the microbial food web to copepods via two, not mutually exclusive, pathways: (i) bypass of the phytoplankton compartment by phosphorus uptake in heterotrophic bacteria and (ii) tunnelling, whereby phosphate luxury consumption rapidly shifts the stoichiometric composition of copepod prey. Copepods may thus be coupled to lower trophic levels through interactions not usually considered.

1 Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
2 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Earth and Biosphere Institute, Leeds University, Leeds, UK.
3 Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK.
4 Marine Environment Laboratory, International Atomic Energy Agency, Monaco.
5 Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR), National Institute of Oceanography, Tel Shikmona, Haifa, Israel.
6 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand.
7 Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
8 Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
9 Station Zoologique, Villefranche-sur-mer, France.
10 Oceanography Centre, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
11 IOLR, Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Tiberias, Israel.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: frede.thingstad{at}bio.uib.no

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