Nutrients, Recycling, and Biological Populations in Upwelling Ecosystems

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5438165

Whitledge, T. E.

Nutrient recycling has been studied in the upwelling areas of Baja California, Northwest Africa, and Peru. Regeneration by biological populations in these areas contributes significant quantities of recycled nitrogen which is utilized in productivity processes. Each area has a different combination of organisms which leads to differences in the relative contributions of zooplankton, nekton, or benthos to the nutrient cycles. Comparisons of ammonium regeneration rates of zooplankton and nekton-micronekton populations in the three upwelling areas show that zooplankton recycle relatively less nitrogen in the Baja California and Peru systems than nekton. In the Northwest Africa upwelling region, however, zooplankton, fish, and benthic inputs are all substantial. In recent years the Peruvian upwelling system has been altered with the decline of the anchoveta population and an increase in the importance of zooplankton in nutrient recycling. The distribution of recycled nitrogen (ammonium and urea) in transects across the shelf at 10°S and 15°S indicates that regeneration is relatively more important at 10°S in the region of the wide shelf. In both areas the distribution of ammonium and urea are not entirely coincident thereby indicating differences in their production and/or utilization.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-02-0016; AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5438165
• Report Number(s): BNL-27636; CONF-800237-1; NSF Grant: OCE78-05737
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520100* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AFRICA
AMIDES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BENTHOS
CARBONIC ACID DERIVATIVES
COASTAL WATERS
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
FISHES
FLUIDS
LATIN AMERICA
MEXICO
MINERAL CYCLING
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUTRIENTS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PERU
PLANKTON
POPULATION DYNAMICS
PRODUCTIVITY
RECYCLING
SOUTH AMERICA
SPECIES DIVERSITY
SURFACE WATERS
UPTAKE
UPWELLING
UREA
VERTEBRATES
ZOOPLANKTON