Biogeochemical controls and isotopic signatures of nitrous oxide production by a marine ammonia-oxidizing bacterium

Abstract

Abstract. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a trace gas that contributes to greenhouse warming of the atmosphere and stratospheric ozone depletion. The N2O yield from nitrification (moles N2O-N produced/mole ammonium-N consumed) has been used to estimate marine N2O production rates from measured nitrification rates and global estimates of oceanic export production. However, the N2O yield from nitrification is not constant. Previous culture-based measurements indicate that N2O yield increases as oxygen (O2) concentration decreases and as nitrite (NO2−) concentration increases. These results were obtained in substrate-rich conditions and may not reflect N2O production in the ocean. Here, we have measured yields of N2O from cultures of the marine β-proteobacterium Nitrosomonas marina C-113a as they grew on low-ammonium (50 μM) media. These yields were lower than previous reports, between 4×10−4 and 7×10−4 (moles N/mole N). The observed impact of O2 concentration on yield was also smaller than previously reported under all conditions except at high starting cell densities (1.5×10