The case for iron

Abstract

Excess major nutrients occur in offshore areas ranging from the tropical equatorial Pacific to the polar Antarctic. In spite of the great ecological differences in these environments, we believe they share a common trait: iron deficiency. Here we present the case for iron; we point out that all of these areas are far from Fe-rich terrestrial sources and that atmospheric dust loads in these regions are amongst the lowest in the world. We summarize experiments performed in three nutrient-rich areas: The Gulf of Alaska, the Ross Sea, and the equatorial Pacific. In general, populations without added Fe doubled at rates 11–40% of the expected maxima at various temperatures. The addition of nanomole quantities of Fe increased these doubling rates by factors of 2–3. In spite of the lack of Fe, tightly coupled phytoplankton/zooplankton communities seem to inhabit these major nutrient-rich areas. Since Fe is required for the synthesis of chlorophyll and nitrate reductase, little chlorophyll is found and NH3 is the favored N source. Normal rate values of specific productivity indicate that these populations are healthy, but limited by the insufficient Fe supply. When Fe becomes available either artificially in bottle experiments or in the environment as Fe-rich land masses are approached, diatoms quickly bloom, chlorophyll levels increase, and nutrient stocks are rapidly depleted. These combined results indicate that Fe availability is the primary factor controlling phytoplankton production in nutrient-rich areas of the open sea.