Comment on "Dilution limits dissolved organic carbon utilization in the deep ocean"

Nianzhi Jiao; Louis Legendre; Carol Robinson; Helmuth Thomas; Ya-Wei Luo; Hongyue Dang; Jihua Liu; Rui Zhang; Kai Tang; Tingwei Luo; Chao Li; Xiaoxue Wang; Chuanlun Zhang

doi:10.1126/science.aab2713

Comment on "Dilution limits dissolved organic carbon utilization in the deep ocean"

Science. 2015 Dec 18;350(6267):1483. doi: 10.1126/science.aab2713. Epub 2015 Dec 17.

Authors

Nianzhi Jiao¹, Louis Legendre², Carol Robinson³, Helmuth Thomas⁴, Ya-Wei Luo⁵, Hongyue Dang⁵, Jihua Liu⁶, Rui Zhang⁵, Kai Tang⁵, Tingwei Luo⁵, Chao Li⁷, Xiaoxue Wang⁸, Chuanlun Zhang⁹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Sciences, Xiamen University, China. Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, Xiamen University, China. jiao@xmu.edu.cn legendre@obs-vlfr.fr carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk helmuth.thomas@posteo.org.
² Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, Observatoire Océanologique, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France. jiao@xmu.edu.cn legendre@obs-vlfr.fr carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk helmuth.thomas@posteo.org.
³ School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK. jiao@xmu.edu.cn legendre@obs-vlfr.fr carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk helmuth.thomas@posteo.org.
⁴ Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. jiao@xmu.edu.cn legendre@obs-vlfr.fr carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk helmuth.thomas@posteo.org.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Sciences, Xiamen University, China. Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, Xiamen University, China.
⁶ Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, Xiamen University, China. Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
⁸ South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
⁹ Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

PMID: 26680188
DOI: 10.1126/science.aab2713

Abstract

Arrieta et al. (Reports, 17 April 2015, p. 331) propose that low concentrations of labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) preclude prokaryotic consumption of a substantial fraction of DOC in the deep ocean and that this dilution acts as an alternative mechanism to recalcitrance for long-term DOC storage. Here, we show that the authors' data do not support their claims.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Carbon Cycle*
Carbon Dioxide / chemistry*
Oceans and Seas*
Seawater / chemistry*
Seawater / microbiology*

Substances

Carbon Dioxide