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Science 9 May 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5621, pp. 958 - 961
DOI: 10.1126/science.1082000
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Reports

A Mesoscale Iron Enrichment in the Western Subarctic Pacific Induces a Large Centric Diatom Bloom

Atsushi Tsuda,1*{dagger} Shigenobu Takeda,2 Hiroaki Saito,3 Jun Nishioka,4 Yukihiro Nojiri,5 Isao Kudo,6 Hiroshi Kiyosawa,7 Akihiro Shiomoto,8 Keiri Imai,5,9 Tsuneo Ono,1 Akifumi Shimamoto,10 Daisuke Tsumune,4 Takeshi Yoshimura,4 Tatsuo Aono,11 Akira Hinuma,12 Masatoshi Kinugasa,13 Koji Suzuki,12 Yoshiki Sohrin,13 Yoshifumi Noiri,6 Heihachiro Tani,6 Yuji Deguchi,10 Nobuo Tsurushima,14 Hiroshi Ogawa,15 Kimio Fukami,16 Kenshi Kuma,6 Toshiro Saino9,12

We have performed an in situ test of the iron limitation hypothesis in the subarctic North Pacific Ocean. A single enrichment of dissolved iron caused a large increase in phytoplankton standing stock and decreases in macronutrients and dissolved carbon dioxide. The dominant phytoplankton species shifted after the iron addition from pennate diatoms to a centric diatom, Chaetoceros debilis, that showed a very high growth rate, 2.6 doublings per day. We conclude that the bioavailability of iron regulates the magnitude of the phytoplankton biomass and the key phytoplankton species that determine the biogeochemical sensitivity to iron supply of high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll waters.

1 Hokkaido National Research Institute, Kushiro, Hokkaido 085-0802, Japan.
2 Department of Aquatic Bioscience, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
3 Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Shiogama, Miyagi 985-0001, Japan.
4 Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Abiko, Chiba 270-1194, Japan.
5 National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan.
6 Graduate School of Fisheries Science, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, Hokkaido 041-8611, Japan.
7 Marine Biological Research Institute of Japan, Shinagawa, Tokyo 142-0042, Japan.
8 National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-8633, Japan.
9 Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
10 Kansai Environmental Engineering Center, Chuou, Osaka 541-0052, Japan.
11 National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki 311-1202, Japan.
12 Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
13 Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan.
14 National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan.
15 Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan.
16 Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan.



* Present address: Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tsuda{at}ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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