Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump
Primary productivity in the Southern Ocean is approximately 3.5 gigatons of carbon per year, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global total. The presence of high concentrations of nitrate in Antarctic waters suggests that it might be possible to increase primary production significantly an...
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Language: | English |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1991
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1905841 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1905841 |
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craaas:10.1126/science.1905841 2024-06-09T07:39:43+00:00 Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump Huntley, M. E. Lopez, M. D. Karl, D. M. 1991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1905841 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1905841 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 253, issue 5015, page 64-66 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 1991 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1905841 2024-05-16T12:54:52Z Primary productivity in the Southern Ocean is approximately 3.5 gigatons of carbon per year, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global total. The presence of high concentrations of nitrate in Antarctic waters suggests that it might be possible to increase primary production significantly and thereby alleviate the net accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide. An analysis of the food web for these waters implies that the Southern Ocean may be remarkably inefficient as a carbon sink. This inefficiency is caused by the large flux of carbon respired to the atmosphere by air-breathing birds and mammals, dominant predators in the unusually simple food web of Antarctic waters. These top predators may transfer into the atmosphere as much as 20 to 25 percent of photosynthetically fixed carbon. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Antarctic Southern Ocean Science 253 5015 64 66 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
op_collection_id |
craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Primary productivity in the Southern Ocean is approximately 3.5 gigatons of carbon per year, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global total. The presence of high concentrations of nitrate in Antarctic waters suggests that it might be possible to increase primary production significantly and thereby alleviate the net accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide. An analysis of the food web for these waters implies that the Southern Ocean may be remarkably inefficient as a carbon sink. This inefficiency is caused by the large flux of carbon respired to the atmosphere by air-breathing birds and mammals, dominant predators in the unusually simple food web of Antarctic waters. These top predators may transfer into the atmosphere as much as 20 to 25 percent of photosynthetically fixed carbon. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Huntley, M. E. Lopez, M. D. Karl, D. M. |
spellingShingle |
Huntley, M. E. Lopez, M. D. Karl, D. M. Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
author_facet |
Huntley, M. E. Lopez, M. D. Karl, D. M. |
author_sort |
Huntley, M. E. |
title |
Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
title_short |
Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
title_full |
Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
title_fullStr |
Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
title_full_unstemmed |
Top Predators in the Southern Ocean: A Major Leak in the Biological Carbon Pump |
title_sort |
top predators in the southern ocean: a major leak in the biological carbon pump |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
1991 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1905841 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1905841 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Science volume 253, issue 5015, page 64-66 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1905841 |
container_title |
Science |
container_volume |
253 |
container_issue |
5015 |
container_start_page |
64 |
op_container_end_page |
66 |
_version_ |
1801381307347894272 |