Arrigo Kevin R
Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2215, USA.
Nature. 2005 Sep 15;437(7057):349-55. doi: 10.1038/nature04159.
The way that nutrients cycle through atmospheric, terrestrial, oceanic and associated biotic reservoirs can constrain rates of biological production and help structure ecosystems on land and in the sea. On a global scale, cycling of nutrients also affects the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Because of their capacity for rapid growth, marine microorganisms are a major component of global nutrient cycles. Understanding what controls their distributions and their diverse suite of nutrient transformations is a major challenge facing contemporary biological oceanographers. What is emerging is an appreciation of the previously unknown degree of complexity within the marine microbial community.
营养物质在大气、陆地、海洋及相关生物库之间循环的方式，会限制生物生产速率，并有助于构建陆地和海洋生态系统的结构。在全球范围内，营养物质的循环也会影响大气中二氧化碳的浓度。由于海洋微生物具有快速生长的能力，它们是全球营养物质循环的主要组成部分。了解是什么控制着它们的分布以及它们多样的营养转化方式，是当代生物海洋学家面临的一项重大挑战。现在人们逐渐认识到，海洋微生物群落内部存在着前所未知的复杂程度。
