Differential effects of iron additions on organic and inorganic carbon production byphytoplankton
Bottle and mesoscale experiments have demonstrated that iron additions enhance phytoplankton growth and reduce surface pCO 2 in highߚnutrient, low‐chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the world oceans. Here we show that iron additions specifically stimulate organic but not inorganic carbon production in th...
| Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2001
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2001.46.5.1199 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.2001.46.5.1199 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.2001.46.5.1199 |
| Summary: | Bottle and mesoscale experiments have demonstrated that iron additions enhance phytoplankton growth and reduce surface pCO 2 in highߚnutrient, low‐chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the world oceans. Here we show that iron additions specifically stimulate organic but not inorganic carbon production in the HNLC Subarctic Pacific. Fiveߚhour 14 C labeling experiments performed during incubation of surface water samples demonstrated a large increase in the rate of organic carbon produced but no change in the rate of inorganic carbon production. The same result was obtained on two different dates: one when coccolithophores formed a relatively large proportion of total autotrophic biomass; the other when coccolithophores were less abundant. Together with previous taxonomic observations, our results imply that iron fertilization may be particularly effective in drawing down CO 2 in surface waters by stimulating primary production but not calcium carbonate precipitation, which augments CO 2 . |
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