Nitrogen fixation rate and phosphorus enrichment effects on diazotrophic cyanobacteria in the Gulf of Riga

Abstract

In eutrophied marine systems such as the Baltic Sea, diazotrophic cyanobacteria have the potential to add additional bioavailable nitrogen (N) to the system through fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen (N₂). However, their growth is regarded to be limited by phosphorus availability (P). This study investigates the response of two cyanobacteria species, Aphanizomenon flosaquae and Nodularia spumigena, collected from the Gulf of Riga under different environmental conditions to a short-period dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) enrichment. The samples were collected during the summer cyanobacterial bloom of 2022 in the central region of the Gulf of Riga. Contrary to expectations, neither species demonstrated a significant increase in biomass. The study also established that N₂-fixation rates did not correlate directly with the total diazotrophic cyanobacteria biomass, but showed a significant correlation with heterocyst presence in both species addressed during this study. The findings suggest the influence of additional factors beyond DIP availability on the N₂-fixing cyanobacteria growth in the Gulf of Riga.