Abstract
N2 fixation (C2H2 reduction) was associated with several species of macroalgae on a coral reef near Grand Bahama Island. The highest rates were associated with Microdictyon sp. (Chlorophyceae) and Dictyota sp. (Phaeophyceae). Extensive mats of filamentous blue-green algae, not heterotrophic bacteria, were the N2 fixing agents: in experiments with samples of Microdictyon sp., the activity was lightdependent and not stimulated by organic compounds under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Assays in situ, at 20 m depth, and on shipboard, gave similar rates of N2 fixation; the cyanophytes presumably have pigment adaptations to function in blue light. The maximum rate of N2 fixation, associated with Microdictyon sp., was 3.8 μg N fixed g dry weight-1 h-1. Coral-reef communities flourish in nutrientimpoverished waters, and therefore any input of nitrogen is probably important in stabilizing such ecosystems.
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Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark
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Capone, D.G., Taylor, D.L. & Taylor, B.F. Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) associated with macroalgae in a coral-reef community in the Bahamas. Marine Biology 40, 29–32 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390624
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390624