Project: NIPROFEED - unraveling the nitrogen fixation-primary production feedback loop: implications for carbon cycling and oceanic health
The NIPROFEED project explores how diazotrophs, microbes that fix nitrogen, may enhance particle formation in oceans, impacting carbon export and oxygen levels .
Project Manager
Christian Furbo Reeder
Other project members
Hanna Farnelid, Linnaeus University
Ronnie Glud, Southern University of Denmark
Participating organisations
Linnaeus University, Department of Biology and Environmental Science
Southern University of Denmark, HADAL group
Funder
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral fellowship (MSCA-PF). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. The grant number: #101150634
Timeline
1 May 2024 – 30 April 2026
Subject
Marine microbiology (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
Research groups
Linnaeus Microbial Observatory (LMO)
Linnaeus University Center for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS)
Marine Phytoplankton – Ecology and Applications (MPEA)
Marine Microbiology
Knowledge Environment
Knowledge Environment Linnaeus: Water
More about the project
The project NIPROFEED (Nitrogen Fixation and Primary Production Feedback loop) delves into the vital interplay between primary producers, nitrogen fixation, and particle dynamics in aquatic ecosystems. Primary producers play a crucial role in capturing roughly one third of excess carbon dioxide and converting it into organic particles, central to the ocean's biological pump.
This process, however, contributes to oxygen depletion as sinking particles lead to organic matter respiration and subsequent deoxygenation of bottom waters. Diazotrophs, specialised microbes capable of nitrogen fixation, provide a significant portion of nitrogen input into oceans, supporting primary production.
NIPROFEED introduces the hypothesis that diazotrophs supplying nitrogen to primary producers can amplify particle formation, initiating a positive feedback loop that impacts carbon export and oxygen levels. To explore this feedback loop, the project will employ cutting-edge techniques, including high-throughput sequencing, single-cell rate measurements and biogeochemical modelling. This will unravel the composition and functional role of free-living and particle-bound diazotrophs, shedding light on their contribution to nitrogen/carbon fixation. By implementing these parameters into an integrated model the intricate relationship between nitrogen fixation and primary productivity will be investigated.
Addressing this hypothesis, NIPROFEED aspires not only contribute significantly to scientific advancements in the field of marine science but also aligns with EU sustainability goals by shedding light on climate change impacts on our ocean.
The project is part of the research conducted by the research group Marine Phytoplankton – Ecology and Applications (MPEA), Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Linnaeus Microbial Observatory (LMO), Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Water and in HADAL group Southern University of Denmark.
