Data Types

Oceanographers measuring bulk rates of carbon fixation and respiration as well as elemental composition, i.e. how much particulate carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus is present in a given volume of water, provide foundational information about ocean biogeochemical cycles. These bulk measurements can be coupled with targeted methods to further assess rates of transformation. More recently, new tools in analytical chemistry, molecular microbiology, and bioinformatics are enhancing our ability to integrate process-based mechanisms and biomass estimates of functional groups of interest into the study of ocean biogeochemistry.
In addition, advances in sequencing and mass spectrometry technologies over the last decades have accelerated the study of microbial communities. These high-throughput, data-rich approaches enable assessment of community taxonomic and functional composition, metabolic potential and diversity, and phylogeny and evolutionary history across the global oceans.

This literature review, initiated by PRiMO, covers well-established physiological metrics routinely used in biological oceanography, as well as novel metrics being developed to determine physiological rates at both the cellular and community level. The entries include information about the methods (currencies, units, assumptions, uncertainties). We also provide key references to facilitate discovery.
We have divided the inventory into four sections: Primary Production, Secondary Production, Nutrient Fluxes, and Interactions.

If you would like to add a data type page, please use the Data wiki template.

Primary Production

Photoautotrophy
Nitrogen Fixation
Phytoplankton C/N-Based Growth Rates
Chemoautotrophy

Secondary Production

Enzyme Activity
Growth Rate
Respiration

Nutrient Fluxes

Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sulfur
Trace Metals
Biomineralization

Interactions

Grazing
Mixotrophy
Viruses
Allelopathy
Life cycles