Phytoplankton nitrate uptake rates collected during the 2012-2013 Palmer Field Season (WAP Carbon export project)

Uptake of nitrate by phytoplankton during the 2012-2013 field season of the Palmer LTER program near Anvers Island in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Nitrate uptake is a proxy for production based on “new” nitrogen entering the ecosystem and hence should balance export flux when integrated over sufficiently large spatial scales and long temporal scales. Nitrate uptake was measured through the uptake of isotopically labeled nitrate, typically at 5 depts spanning the surface to 65 m depth. Measurements were typically made twice per week through the ice-free summer phytoplankton growing season.