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How do diazotrophs shape the ocean biological carbon pump? A global approach, from the single cell to the ecosystem

Project description

Mapping the role of diazotrophs in the carbon cycle

Diazotrophic microorganisms help regulate the world’s marine productivity by converting nitrogen and contributing to carbon sinks, but we don’t know how much diazotroph-derived carbon is exported to the deep ocean. The EU-funded HOPE project seeks to find out, enabling better predictions about the ocean’s role in sequestering CO2 and mitigating climate change. Using single-cell isotopic techniques, researchers will examine this prokaryotic carbon pump to map its transient and seasonal features. An experimental water column will also allow researchers to determine how diazotrophs aggregate, sink and are remineralised, and an autonomous measuring platform will monitor how environmental drivers control the efficiency of the pump. This will result in new global estimates for carbon exported by diazotrophs.

Objective

Diazotrophs regulate marine productivity in 60% of our oceans by alleviating nitrogen limitation, contributing to carbon (C) sequestration through the N2-primed Prokaryotic C Pump (PCP). Yet we dont know how much diazotroph-derived organic C (OC) is exported to the deep ocean, which prevents robust predictions of how the ocean contributes to CO2 sequestration and climate change mitigation. This knowledge gap is due to the multiple and complex pathways by which diazotrophs are exported to the deep ocean, which quantification and drivers of variability are impossible to capture with current methods. HOPE will bridge this gap thanks to a new isotopic technique I developed and to a coupling between lab and in situ approaches examining processes occurring at different spatiotemporal scales, and capable of capturing both transient and seasonal features of the PCP. HOPE will: 1.Determine how various diazotrophs aggregate, sink and are remineralized by using an automated experimental water column I designed for this proposal 2.Decipher by which pathways diazotroph-derived OC is exported to the deep ocean thanks to a pioneer approach combining single-cell isotopic analyses, in-depth microbiological characterization of sinking particles and geochemical budgets 3.Investigate how environmental drivers control the whole process, from the surface diazotroph community up to their eventual export to the deep ocean, by deploying a cutting-edge autonomous platform, unique as it performs synoptic measurements both in and below the euphotic zone at high resolution (hourly/daily). In its final stage, HOPE will use the generated data to provide global, spatially resolved estimates of the contribution of diazotrophs to overall OC export. Based on my expertise at the interface between microbial oceanography and geochemistry, HOPE has the potential to deliver a multidisciplinary and ground-breaking knowledge leading to potential scientific-based recommendations to fight climate change.

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2021-COG

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Host institution

INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 493 821,00
Address
BOULEVARD DE DUNKERQUE 44 CS 90009
13572 Marseille
France

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Region
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Bouches-du-Rhône
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 493 821,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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