Effects of iron and/or chelator addition on primary production in the equatorial Upwelling system were studied during the TOGA(Tropical oceans and Global Atmosphere) and EPOCS (Equatorial Pacific ocean Climate Studies) cruises in June and November-Dec...
Effects of iron and/or chelator addition on primary production in the equatorial Upwelling system were studied during the TOGA(Tropical oceans and Global Atmosphere) and EPOCS (Equatorial Pacific ocean Climate Studies) cruises in June and November-December of 1989. Changes in the phytoplankton biomass and the degree of iron stress were estimated using the changes in vivo fluorescence before and after the addition of DCMU, which is an inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transposer system. Nitrate uptake was measured using /SUP 45/N labeled KNO$_3$ to estimate the new production. When samples were taken from the Upwelling area where nitrate concentration was higher than 5 uM, there were significant differences between the control and cheated iron treatments in vivo fluorescence and in nitrate uptake capacity. However, CFC (Cellular fluorescence capacity) did not show any significant difference between the control and treatments until nutrient limitation becomes severse and cells become shifted-down. Outside of the Upwelling area where surface nitrate concentration was low (below 0.5 uM), there was no significant difference between the control and treatments in vivo fluorescence and CFC. It is evident that primary and new production in the equatorial Pacific Upwelling region are limited by the availability of iron. However, the physiology of phytoplankton indigenous to this region does not appear to be iron stressed judging from CFC values.