The relationship between community respiration and ETS activity in the ocean

Abstract

We have studied the relationship between community respiration (R) and enzymatic activity of the electron transport system (ETS) in upper ocean microbial communities (<225 μm) from different oceanic regions. In all except one of the regions, R and ETS were significantly positive correlated. This supports the hypothesis that ETS can be widely used to estimate plankton respiration in natural marine communities (Packard, T.T., Adv. Aquat Microbiol, 3,207–261, 1985). A regression equation was obtained between all the R and ETS data studied, to derive respiration from ETS activity. This equation yields a mean error in the prediction of ±34%, similar to the errors obtained applying the equations at each area, but lower than the error obtained when using the mean R:ETS ratio to determine respiration (±45%). Our results suggest that the use of the ETS-R algorithm, along with measurements of ETS activity in seawater, facilitates the estimation of seawater respiratory oxygen consumption on the mesoscale. This means that by using this approach one could extend our knowledge of oceanic respiration over large temporal and spatial scales, and begin to use respiration, not only productivity, in addressing carbon balance problems in the upper ocean.