Ronald Benner | University of South Carolina (original) (raw)

Ronald Benner

My research focuses on the biogeochemistry of the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous cycles and the roles of microorganisms as producers and consumers of organic matter in aquatic environments. Microbes play key roles in the cycling of bioactive elements and in the transfer of these elements into food webs. Experimental approaches are used to characterize processes and the roles of microorganisms as key players in the transformations of C, N and P. Geochemical approaches are used to integrate processes over space and time. Ongoing research projects are investigating the fates of terrigenous and marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the Arctic Ocean, the coupling of microbial and photochemical processes in the decomposition of aromatic components of DOM in ocean margins, and the use of biochemical measurements as indicators of bioavailable organic matter and hot spots in diverse aquatic ecosystems.

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Papers by Ronald Benner

Research paper thumbnail of Soil organic nitrogen cycling increases with temperature and precipitation along a boreal forest latitudinal transect

Research paper thumbnail of Mass balance estimates of carbon export in different water masses of the Chukchi Sea shelf

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Linkages among fluorescent dissolved organic matter, dissolved amino acids and lignin-derived phenols in a river-influenced ocean margin

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter decomposition, nitrogen recycling, and oxygen consumption in the Mississippi River plume/Gulf Shelf region

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter in Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon River: A comparison to the lower mainstream

Limnology and Oceanography, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Dissolved organic carbon and amino sugar concentrations measured in surface water during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXV/1

Research paper thumbnail of Arctic system on trajectory to new state

Research paper thumbnail of Evolving paradigms in biological carbon cycling in the ocean

National Science Review, 2018

Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biot... more Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biotic and abiotic processes in the ocean, which intertwine to mediate the chemistry and redox status of carbon in the ocean and the atmosphere. The interactions between abiotic and biogenic carbon (e.g. CO2, CaCO3, organic matter) in the ocean are complex, and there is a half-century-old enigma about the existence of a huge reservoir of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) that equates to the magnitude of the pool of atmospheric CO2. The concepts of the biological carbon pump (BCP) and the microbial loop (ML) shaped our understanding of the marine carbon cycle. The more recent concept of the microbial carbon pump (MCP), which is closely connected to those of the BCP and the ML, explicitly considers the significance of the ocean's RDOC reservoir and provides a mechanistic framework for the exploration of its formation and persistence. Understanding of the MCP has benefited from a...

Research paper thumbnail of The fate of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon on the E urasian shelves and export to the N orth A tlantic

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of DOC, CDOM, optical properties, and lignin phenols (terrigenous biomarker) during POLARSTERN cruise ARK-XXII/2 (2007), in the Arctic Ocean

This data set was collected during Polarstern cruise ARKXXII/2 in 2007. It contains data on disso... more This data set was collected during Polarstern cruise ARKXXII/2 in 2007. It contains data on dissolved organic carbon concentrations, lignin phenol concentration and optical properties measured as absorbance and fluorescence from insitu sensors (Haardt fluorometer) and laboratory measurements on discrete water samples (absorbance scans and fluorescence scans-EEMs).

Research paper thumbnail of Interactive comment on “ The composition and distribution of labile dissolved organic matter across the south west Pacific ” by Christos Panagiotopoulos et al

  1. The Results section needs to include BP, BCD, and PP (the latter is perhaps from another study... more 1) The Results section needs to include BP, BCD, and PP (the latter is perhaps from another study, but it could still be summarized). My first thought on looking at Figure 4, in context of the authors’ discussion of accumulating DOCsl, was that it seemed like BCD and PP might be reversed. While I quickly realized that’s not the case, as the manuscript stands, there is no way to double-check the figure against numerical values.

Research paper thumbnail of Green Edge ice camp campaigns: understanding the processes controlling the under-ice Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter diagenesis and bacterial contributions to detrital carbon and nitrogen in the Amazon River system

Limnology and Oceanography, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of John I. Hedges

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of carbohydrates during early diagenesis of five vascular plant tissues

Organic Geochemistry, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of Ocean metabolism and dissolved organic matter: How do small dissolved molecules persist in the ocean?

Research paper thumbnail of Predicting Dissolved Lignin Phenol Concentrations in the Coastal Ocean from Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) Absorption Coefficients

Frontiers in Marine Science

Research paper thumbnail of Biological hot spots and the accumulation of marine dissolved organic matter in a highly productive ocean margin

Limnology and Oceanography

Research paper thumbnail of Sources, Distributions, and Dynamics of Dissolved Organic Matter in the Canada and Makarov Basins

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Does oxygen exposure time control the extent of organic matter decomposition in peatlands?

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2014

ABSTRACT The extent of peat decomposition was investigated in four cores collected along a latitu... more ABSTRACT The extent of peat decomposition was investigated in four cores collected along a latitudinal gradient from 56˚N to 66˚N in the West Siberian Lowland. The acid:aldehyde ratios of lignin phenols were significantly higher in the two northern cores compared with the two southern cores, indicating peats at the northern sites were more highly decomposed. Yields of hydroxyproline, an amino acid found in plant structural glycoproteins, were also significantly higher in northern cores compared with southern cores. Hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins are not synthesized by microbes and are generally less reactive than bulk plant carbon, so elevated yields indicated northern cores were more extensively decomposed than the southern cores. The southern cores experienced warmer temperatures, but were less decomposed, indicating temperature was not the primary control of peat decomposition. The plant community oscillated between Sphagnum and vascular plant dominance in the southern cores, but vegetation type did not appear to affect the extent of decomposition. Oxygen exposure time appeared to be the strongest control of the extent of peat decomposition. The northern cores had lower accumulation rates and drier conditions, so these peats were exposed to oxic conditions for a longer time before burial in the catotelm, where anoxic conditions prevail and rates of decomposition are generally lower by an order of magnitude.

Research paper thumbnail of Soil organic nitrogen cycling increases with temperature and precipitation along a boreal forest latitudinal transect

Research paper thumbnail of Mass balance estimates of carbon export in different water masses of the Chukchi Sea shelf

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Linkages among fluorescent dissolved organic matter, dissolved amino acids and lignin-derived phenols in a river-influenced ocean margin

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter decomposition, nitrogen recycling, and oxygen consumption in the Mississippi River plume/Gulf Shelf region

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter in Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon River: A comparison to the lower mainstream

Limnology and Oceanography, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Dissolved organic carbon and amino sugar concentrations measured in surface water during POLARSTERN cruise ANT-XXV/1

Research paper thumbnail of Arctic system on trajectory to new state

Research paper thumbnail of Evolving paradigms in biological carbon cycling in the ocean

National Science Review, 2018

Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biot... more Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biotic and abiotic processes in the ocean, which intertwine to mediate the chemistry and redox status of carbon in the ocean and the atmosphere. The interactions between abiotic and biogenic carbon (e.g. CO2, CaCO3, organic matter) in the ocean are complex, and there is a half-century-old enigma about the existence of a huge reservoir of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) that equates to the magnitude of the pool of atmospheric CO2. The concepts of the biological carbon pump (BCP) and the microbial loop (ML) shaped our understanding of the marine carbon cycle. The more recent concept of the microbial carbon pump (MCP), which is closely connected to those of the BCP and the ML, explicitly considers the significance of the ocean's RDOC reservoir and provides a mechanistic framework for the exploration of its formation and persistence. Understanding of the MCP has benefited from a...

Research paper thumbnail of The fate of terrigenous dissolved organic carbon on the E urasian shelves and export to the N orth A tlantic

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of DOC, CDOM, optical properties, and lignin phenols (terrigenous biomarker) during POLARSTERN cruise ARK-XXII/2 (2007), in the Arctic Ocean

This data set was collected during Polarstern cruise ARKXXII/2 in 2007. It contains data on disso... more This data set was collected during Polarstern cruise ARKXXII/2 in 2007. It contains data on dissolved organic carbon concentrations, lignin phenol concentration and optical properties measured as absorbance and fluorescence from insitu sensors (Haardt fluorometer) and laboratory measurements on discrete water samples (absorbance scans and fluorescence scans-EEMs).

Research paper thumbnail of Interactive comment on “ The composition and distribution of labile dissolved organic matter across the south west Pacific ” by Christos Panagiotopoulos et al

  1. The Results section needs to include BP, BCD, and PP (the latter is perhaps from another study... more 1) The Results section needs to include BP, BCD, and PP (the latter is perhaps from another study, but it could still be summarized). My first thought on looking at Figure 4, in context of the authors’ discussion of accumulating DOCsl, was that it seemed like BCD and PP might be reversed. While I quickly realized that’s not the case, as the manuscript stands, there is no way to double-check the figure against numerical values.

Research paper thumbnail of Green Edge ice camp campaigns: understanding the processes controlling the under-ice Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom

Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Organic matter diagenesis and bacterial contributions to detrital carbon and nitrogen in the Amazon River system

Limnology and Oceanography, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of John I. Hedges

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of carbohydrates during early diagenesis of five vascular plant tissues

Organic Geochemistry, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of Ocean metabolism and dissolved organic matter: How do small dissolved molecules persist in the ocean?

Research paper thumbnail of Predicting Dissolved Lignin Phenol Concentrations in the Coastal Ocean from Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) Absorption Coefficients

Frontiers in Marine Science

Research paper thumbnail of Biological hot spots and the accumulation of marine dissolved organic matter in a highly productive ocean margin

Limnology and Oceanography

Research paper thumbnail of Sources, Distributions, and Dynamics of Dissolved Organic Matter in the Canada and Makarov Basins

Frontiers in Marine Science, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Does oxygen exposure time control the extent of organic matter decomposition in peatlands?

Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2014

ABSTRACT The extent of peat decomposition was investigated in four cores collected along a latitu... more ABSTRACT The extent of peat decomposition was investigated in four cores collected along a latitudinal gradient from 56˚N to 66˚N in the West Siberian Lowland. The acid:aldehyde ratios of lignin phenols were significantly higher in the two northern cores compared with the two southern cores, indicating peats at the northern sites were more highly decomposed. Yields of hydroxyproline, an amino acid found in plant structural glycoproteins, were also significantly higher in northern cores compared with southern cores. Hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins are not synthesized by microbes and are generally less reactive than bulk plant carbon, so elevated yields indicated northern cores were more extensively decomposed than the southern cores. The southern cores experienced warmer temperatures, but were less decomposed, indicating temperature was not the primary control of peat decomposition. The plant community oscillated between Sphagnum and vascular plant dominance in the southern cores, but vegetation type did not appear to affect the extent of decomposition. Oxygen exposure time appeared to be the strongest control of the extent of peat decomposition. The northern cores had lower accumulation rates and drier conditions, so these peats were exposed to oxic conditions for a longer time before burial in the catotelm, where anoxic conditions prevail and rates of decomposition are generally lower by an order of magnitude.

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