Diazotroph Fine-scale Connectomics. FIGURE cruise Microbial Diversity

Mesoscale eddies contribute to the distribution of resources for plankton to thrive but can also trap and isolate plankton communities resulting in rapidly vanishing resources. Nitrogen-fixing organisms, diazotrophs, provide a large amount of nitrogen for other organisms, particularly in large nutrient-depleted regions such as the subtropical gyres. However, how fine-scale structures with fast-changing environmental conditions, compared to large ocean regions, impact diazotrophs’ distribution remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated diazotroph diversity within the Gulf Stream and associated eddies, a region with intense eddy activity known for its significant role in nutrient transport into the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.