User:Hemst010/Redfield ratio

Add to Explanation section Sigman, D. M., & Hain, M. P. (2012). The Biological Productivity of the Ocean. http://bats.bios.edu


 * Explains why the N:P ratio of nutrients in many parts of the ocean hovers around a 16:1 ratio
 * The nutrients sink, in particular as NO3 sinks it falls into the ocean.
 * Microorganisms preferentially consume oxygen in nitrate over phosphate leading to waters with a N to P ratio less than 16:1.
 * Then when the nutrients are upwelled phytoplankton will consume the excess P and get their Nitrogen from alternative sources, particularly, N2.
 * Has a good diagram

Add to Derivations section

Martiny, A.C., C.T.A. Pham, F.W. Primeau, J.A. Vrugt, J.K. Moore, S.A. Levin, and M.W. Lomas. 2013. Strong latitudinal patterns in the elemental ratios of marine plankton and organic matter. Nature Geoscience 6(4):279–283


 * 4 possible explanations have been given to suggest why there is variability in C:N:P ratios.
 * Certain species have been shown to consistently have more higher or lower C/P ratios and N/P ratios.
 * Supply of certain nutrients which can be compared to cellular stoich.
 * Additionally, the speed at which a cell grows may potentially have an impact
 * The accumulation of dead phytoplankton or detritus can accumulate which can affect available food sources.

Add to Derivations section

Katsumi Matsumoto, B., Tanioka, T., & Rickaby, R. (n.d.). Linkages Between Dynamic Phytoplankton C:N:P and the Ocean Carbon Cycle Under Climate Change (Vol. 33, Issue 2).


 * On page 45 it shows the C:N:P ratios in the model
 * Redfield did recognize that there was flexibility in his ratio
 * Eukaryotes tend to have C:N:P ratios similar to the Redfield ratio, because that is what he tested.
 * Smaller cyanobacteria, that were not discovered until after Redfields time, have much higher C:N:P ratios.

Add to Extended Redfield ratio Moore, C. M., Mills, M. M., Arrigo, K. R., Berman-Frank, I., Bopp, L., Boyd, P. W., Galbraith, E. D., Geider, R. J., Guieu, C., Jaccard, S. L., Jickells, T. D., la Roche, J., Lenton, T. M., Mahowald, N. M., Marañón, E., Marinov, I., Moore, J. K., Nakatsuka, T., Oschlies, A., … Ulloa, O. (2013). Processes and patterns of oceanic nutrient limitation. In Nature Geoscience (Vol. 6, Issue 9, pp. 701–710). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1765


 * Experimentation has shown that when adding iron-rich solution to the ocean to areas where phytoplankton growth is limited by iron has led to an increase in primary production.

Add to Uses

Tanioka, T., Matsumoto, K., & Lomas, M. W. (2021). Drawdown of Atmospheric pCO2 Via Variable Particle Flux Stoichiometry in the Ocean Twilight Zone. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(22). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094924


 * Tatsuro shows that the C:P ratio can change CO2 drawdown in 2 ways
 * Incorporating variable surface C:P can increase carbon export at 100m by 3 PgC/yr compared to the Redfield Run and increase the total carbon storage by 44 PgC or 21%. --> need to paraphrase --> near fig. 3
 * The second in an increase in the remineralization length scale of POC by reducing Bc relative to BI.

Add to Explanation section Auguères, A. S., & Loreau, M. (2015). Regulation of Redfield ratios in the deep ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29(2), 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GB005066


 * In a model, when additional nutrients are provided to the surface waters, they affect the chemistry of deep ocean waters.
 * One case is by adding additional P to the surface caused an increase in N fixers (can convert N2 into organic N) and a decrease in non fixers.
 * The addition of N in the surface cause an increase in biomass of the non-fixers and a decrease in biomass of the fixers.
 * This in turn, affects the intensity of nutrient recycling to the deep layer, particularly when adding P to the surface, there is more P that is transported to the deep layer.
 * The ratio of N:P in the deep is slightly lower than that of non fixing phytoplankton.

TBD Frigstad, H., Andersen, T., Hessen, D. O., Naustvoll, L. J., Johnsen, T. M., & Bellerby, R. G. J. (2011). Seasonal variation in marine C:N:P stoichiometry: Can the composition of seston explain stable Redfield ratios? Biogeosciences, 8(10), 2917–2933. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-8-2917-2011


 * Seston is suspended particulate organic matter
 * Often phytoplankton are viewed as the primary reservoirs of nutrients in the upper oceans. However, it is a small part compared to the mass of seston and detritus
 * This is important as these categories can also have significantly different N:P ratios.

Explanation section

Emerson, S., Mecking, S., & Abell, J. (2001). The biological pump in subtropical North Pacific Ocean: Nutrient sources, Redfield ratios, and recent changes. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(3), 535–554. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GB001320


 * Argues that the biological pump is not limited by phosphate concentrations
 * Instead that Nitrogen limits the transfer of nutrients via the biological pump.
 * Cites instances where carbon export increased when N:P ratios increased.