Limnology and Oceanography, Volume 36, Number 8, December 1991. What Controls Phytoplankton Production in Nutrient-Rich Areas of the Open Sea?

• Main Authors: Chisholm, Sallie W., Morel, Francois M.
• Other Authors: AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY WALLA WALLA WA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1991
• Subjects: Biological Oceanography; *LIMNOLOGY; *PHYTOPLANKTON; *ATMOSPHERES; *ZOOPLANKTON; *OCEANOGRAPHY; NUTRIENTS; REGIONS; IRON; SURFACES; LIMITATIONS; SCALE; SURFACE WATERS; MEDIA; OCEANS; CARBON DIOXIDE; PUMPS; FOOD; ENRICHMENT; OCEANOGRAPHERS; PHOSPHATES; NITRATES; GRAZING; DIOXIDES; CARBON; LIGHT; SOCIETIES; POLICIES; MAINTENANCE; METALS; Pacific; Southern Ocean; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA252465; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA252465

In certain areas of the oceans (the Southern Ocean, subarctic Pacific, and equatorial Pacific), phytoplankton do not exhaust phosphate and nitrate in the surface waters. The result is a less efficient transfer of carbon from surface to deep waters via the biological pump. This high-nutrient, low-chlorophyl (HNLC) paradox has intrigued biological oceanographers for years. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the maintenance of phytoplankton biomass below the carrying capacity set by the availability of major nutrients, including: zooplankton grazing; inhibition of nitrate uptake by ammonium concentrations; light and temperature limitation; trace metal limitation or inhibition; ana physiological inefficiency. As is usually true of issues involving marine food webs, no single hypothesis has emerged to account for all the properties of HNLC regions. Because of scientific interest in the recent data from John Martin's group indicating that iron limitation might be responsible for the HNLC paradox, and due to interest by the media and policy makers in the question of whether large-scale iron fertilization could mitigate the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a symposium was held by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography on the topic of What Controls Phytoplankton Production in Nutrient-Rich Areas of the Open Sea? Under this grant, papers resulting from the Symposium were published in the December, 1991 issue of Limnology and Oceanography (Volume 36, 8).