Phytoplankton production and taxon-specific growth rates in the Costa Rica Dome.

During summer 2010, we investigated phytoplankton production and growth rates at 19 stations in the eastern tropical Pacific, where winds and strong opposing currents generate the Costa Rica Dome (CRD), an open-ocean upwelling feature. Primary production (C-incorporation) and group-specific growth and net growth rates (two-treatment seawater dilution method) were estimated from samples incubated at eight depths. Our cruise coincided with a mild El Niño event, and only weak upwelling was observed in the CRD.