Reframing the contribution of pelagic Sargassum epiphytic N2 fixation

Though nitrogen fixation by epiphytic diazotrophs on pelagic Sargassum has been recognized for decades, it has been assumed to contribute insignificantly to the overall marine nitrogen budget. This six-year study reframes this concept through long-term measurements of Sargassum community nitrogen fixation rates, and by extrapolating mass-specific rates to a theoretical square meter portion of Sargassum mat allowing for comparison of these rates to those of other marine and coastal diazotrophs. On 24 occasions from 2015 to 2021, rates of nitrogen fixation were measured using whole fronds of Sargassum collected from the western edge of the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Across all dates, mass-specific rates ranged from 0 to 37.77 μmol N g-1 h-1 with a mean of 4.156 μmol N g-1 h-1. Extrapolating using a mat-specific density of Sargassum, these rates scale to a range of 0 to 30,916 μmol N m-2 d-1 and a mean of 3,697 μmol N m-2 d-1. Quantifying this community’s rates of nitrogen fixation over several years captured the sometimes-extreme variability in rates, characteristic of marine diazotrophs, which has not been reported in the literature to date. When these measurements are considered alongside estimates of the density of pelagic Sargassum, rates of nitrogen fixation by Sargassum’s epiphytic diazotrophs rival that of their coastal macrophyte and planktonic counterparts. Given Sargassum’s wide and expanding geographic range, the results of this study suggest this community may contribute reactive nitrogen on a meaningful, basin-wide scale, which merits further study.