Refer to Collins et al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles (2015), in review. Excerpted from methods section:
Estimates of aerobic respiration by the water column microbial community (WCR) were calculated by linear regression of measurements of dissolved oxygen concentration in a series of 300 mL shipboard bottle incubations. Determination of dissolved oxygen was made at 3- to 9-hour intervals in at least five replicates using optode spot minisensors (PreSens PSt3; Precision Sensing GmbH, Regensburg, Germany) that were glued to the inside surfaces of the bottles using food-quality silicone cement (M Warkentin et al., 2007). The use of these optode spots eliminated the need for drawing of aliquots from the sample bottles. Incubations were conducted in the dark at in situ temperature as described in Edwards et al. (2011). We validated the rates from these incubations using a series of Winkler titrations; methods are described in the Auxiliary Material to Collins et al. (2015). We used the standard error of the slope parameter from these regressions as the uncertainty in our estimates of WCR.
References:
Collins, J. R., B. R. Edwards, K. Thamatrakoln, J. E. Ossolinksi, G. R. DiTullio, K. D. Bidle, S. C. Doney, and B. A. S. Van Mooy (2015), The multiple fates of sinking particles in the North Atlantic Ocean, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, in review.
Edwards, B. R., C. M. Reddy, R. Camilli, C. A. Carmichael, K. Longnecker, and B. A. S. Van Mooy (2011), Rapid microbial respiration of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in offshore surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Environmental Research Letters, 6(3), doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/035301.
Warkentin, M., H. M. Freese, U. Karsten, and R. Schumann (2007), New and fast method to quantify respiration rates of bacterial and plankton communities in freshwater ecosystems by using optical oxygen sensor spots, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 73(21), 6722-6729, doi:10.1128/Aem.00405-07.