Iron Deficiency in Seagrasses and Macroalgae in the Red Sea Is Unrelated to Latitude and Physiological Performance
Type
ArticleAuthors
Anton Gamazo, Andrea
Hendriks, Iris E.
Marbà, Núria
Krause-Jensen, Dorte
Garcias-Bonet, Neus

Duarte, Carlos M.

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2018-03-06Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/627332
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Show full item recordAbstract
Iron can limit primary production in shallow marine systems, especially in tropical waters characterized by carbonated sediments, where iron is largely trapped in a non-available form. The Red Sea, an oligotrophic ecosystem characterized by a strong N-S latitudinal nutrient gradient, is a suitable setting to explore patterns in situ of iron limitation in macrophytes and their physiological performance under different iron regimes. We assessed the interactions between environmental gradients and physiological parameters of poorly-studied Red Sea macrophytes. Iron concentration, chlorophyll a concentration, blade thickness, and productivity of 17 species of macrophytes, including seven species of seagrasses and 10 species of macroalgae, were measured at 21 locations, spanning 10 latitude degrees, along the Saudi Arabian coast. Almost 90% of macrophyte species had iron concentrations below the levels indicative of iron sufficiency and more than 40% had critically low iron concentrations, suggesting that iron is a limiting factor of primary production throughout the Red Sea. We did not identify relationships between tissue iron concentration, chlorophyll a concentration and physiological performance of the 17 species of seagrass and macroalgae. There was also no latitudinal pattern in any of the parameters studied, indicating that the South to North oligotrophication of the Red Sea is not reflected in iron concentration, chlorophyll a concentration or productivity of Red Sea macrophytes.Citation
Anton A, Hendriks IE, Marbà N, Krause-Jensen D, Garcias-Bonet N, et al. (2018) Iron Deficiency in Seagrasses and Macroalgae in the Red Sea Is Unrelated to Latitude and Physiological Performance. Frontiers in Marine Science 5. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00074.Sponsors
This research was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology through baseline funding and funds by the Tarek Ahmed Juffali Research Chair in Red Sea Ecology to CD. We thank Vijayalaxmi Dasari, Isidora Mendia Saez de Zuazola, Sabrina Roth, Yi Zhang, Janna Randle, and Mongi Ennasri for support in the laboratory analyses, Brian Hession, CMOR and the RV Thuwal crew for logistical support, Nathan Geraldi for helpful comments on early drafts of the manuscript, John Runcie for support with the Shutter Fluorometer and two reviewers for constructive comments.Publisher
Frontiers Media SAJournal
Frontiers in Marine ScienceAdditional Links
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00074/fullae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3389/fmars.2018.00074
Scopus Count
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