Nutrient and arsenic biogeochemistry of Sargassum in the western Atlantic

Dennis Joseph McGillicuddy (), Peter Lynn Morton, Rachel Aileen Brewton, Chuanmin Hu, Thomas Bryce Kelly, Andrew Robert Solow and Brian Edward Lapointe
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Dennis Joseph McGillicuddy: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Peter Lynn Morton: Texas A&M University
Rachel Aileen Brewton: Florida Atlantic University
Chuanmin Hu: University of South Florida
Thomas Bryce Kelly: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Andrew Robert Solow: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Brian Edward Lapointe: Florida Atlantic University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The oceanographic ecology of pelagic Sargassum, and the means by which these floating macroalgae thrive in the nutrient-poor waters of the open ocean, have been studied for decades. Beginning in 2011, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (GASB) emerged, with Sargassum proliferating in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean where it had not previously been abundant. Here we show that the nutritional status of Sargassum in the GASB is distinct, with higher nitrogen and phosphorus content than populations residing in its Sargasso Sea habitat. Moreover, we find that variations in arsenic content of Sargassum reflect phosphorus limitation, following a hyperbolic relationship predicted from Michaelis-Menten nutrient uptake kinetics. Although the sources of nutrients fueling the GASB are not yet clear, our results suggest that nitrogen and phosphorus content of Sargassum, together with its isotopic composition, can be used to identify those sources, whether they be atmospheric, oceanic, or riverine in origin.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41904-4

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