¹Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403
²Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812
³Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
⁴Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
⁵Department of Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699
⁶Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996

^*Corresponding Author: Tel:(419) 372-6873, Fax:(419) 372-2024; E-mail: rmmckay@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Abstract

  There is increasing recognition that iron distribution and availability is significant in terms of global oceanic production. Low availability of iron and other nutritive trace metals may also constrain productivity in the North American Great Lakes. Despite its importance, the biogeochemistry of iron in the water column of lacustrine systems remains poorly characterized. In addressing the current state of iron biogeochemistry, a workshop organized nearly a decade ago at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research brought together a cross-disciplinary team of chemists and biologists who sought to synthesize current knowledge and identify research priorities in this field. Key among goals identified during the workshop, and one that remains today for the most part unfulfilled, was to ‘develop techniques to quantify those fractions of Fe that are accessible to phytoplankton’. Here we review recent progress toward meeting this objective, drawing on specific examples from Lake Superior where these approaches have been applied.