Testing the iron hypothesis in ecosystems of the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The idea that iron might limit phytoplankton growth in large regions of the ocean has been tested by enriching an area of 64 km 2 in the open equatorial Pacific Ocean with iron. This resulted in a doubling of plant biomass, a threefold increase in chlorophyll and a fourfold increase in plant product...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1994-09, Vol.371 (6493), p.123-129
Main Authors: Martin, J. H, Coale, K. H, Johnson, K. S, Fitzwater, S. E, Gordon, R. M, Tanner, S. J, Hunter, C. N, Elrod, V. A, Nowicki, J. L, Coley, T. L, Barber, R. T, Lindley, S, Watson, A. J, Van Scoy, K, Law, C. S, Liddicoat, M. I, Ling, R, Stanton, T, Stockel, J, Collins, C, Anderson, A, Bidigare, R, Ondrusek, M, Latasa, M, Millero, F. J, Lee, K, Yao, W, Zhang, J. Z, Friederich, G, Sakamoto, C, Chavez, F, Buck, K, Kolber, Z, Greene, R, Falkowski, P, Chisholm, S. W, Hoge, F, Swift, R, Yungel, J, Turner, S, Nightingale, P, Hatton, A, Liss, P, Tindale, N. W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Ecosystems
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Iron
Marine
Marine ecosystems
multidisciplinary
Oceans
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Plant biomass
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
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Summary:The idea that iron might limit phytoplankton growth in large regions of the ocean has been tested by enriching an area of 64 km 2 in the open equatorial Pacific Ocean with iron. This resulted in a doubling of plant biomass, a threefold increase in chlorophyll and a fourfold increase in plant production. Similar increases were found in a chlorophyll-rich plume down-stream of the Galapagos Islands, which was naturally enriched in iron. These findings indicate that iron limitation can control rates of phytoplankton productivity and biomass in the ocean.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/371123a0