The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific
Zooplankton are important consumers of sinking particles in the ocean's twilight zone. However, the impact of different taxa depends on their feeding mode. In contrast to typical suspension-feeding zooplankton, flux-feeding taxa preferentially consume rapidly sinking particles that would otherw...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt93k1314m 2023-11-05T03:43:20+01:00 The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific Stukel, Michael R Ohman, Mark D Kelly, Thomas B Biard, Tristan 397 2019-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/93k1314m unknown eScholarship, University of California qt93k1314m https://escholarship.org/uc/item/93k1314m public Frontiers in Marine Science, vol 6, iss JUL Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Sciences biological pump carbon export remineralization length scale mesozooplankton ecology pteropods marine biogeochemistry sinking particles marine snow Ecology Geology article 2019 ftcdlib 2023-10-09T18:06:59Z Zooplankton are important consumers of sinking particles in the ocean's twilight zone. However, the impact of different taxa depends on their feeding mode. In contrast to typical suspension-feeding zooplankton, flux-feeding taxa preferentially consume rapidly sinking particles that would otherwise penetrate into the deep ocean. To quantify the potential impact of two flux-feeding zooplankton taxa [Aulosphaeridae (Rhizaria), and Limacina helicina (euthecosome pteropod)] and the total suspension-feeding zooplankton community, we measured depth-stratified abundances of these organisms during six cruises in the California Current Ecosystem. Using allometric-scaling relationships, we computed the percentage of carbon flux intercepted by flux feeders and suspension feeders. These estimates were compared to direct measurements of carbon flux attenuation (CFA) made using drifting sediment traps and 238U-234Th disequilibrium. We found that CFA in the shallow twilight zone typically ranged from 500 to 1000 μmol organic C flux remineralized per 10-m vertical depth bin. This equated to approximately 6-10% of carbon flux remineralized/10 m. The two flux-feeding taxa considered in this study could account for a substantial proportion of this flux near the base of the euphotic zone. The mean flux attenuation attributable to Aulosphaeridae was 0.69%/10 m (median = 0.21%/10 m, interquartile range = 0.04-0.81%) at their depth of maximum abundance (~100 m), which would equate to ~10% of total flux attenuation in this depth range. The maximum flux attenuation attributable to Aulosphaeridae reached 4.2%/10 m when these protists were most abundant. L. helicina, meanwhile, could intercept 0.45-1.6% of carbon flux/10 m, which was slightly greater (on average) than the Aulosphaeridae. In contrast, suspension-feeding zooplankton in the mesopelagic (including copepods, euphausiids, appendicularians, and ostracods) had combined clearance rates of 2-81 L m-3 day-1 (mean of 19.6 L m-3 day-1). This implies a substantial impact on slowly ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Limacina helicina Copepods University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Sciences biological pump carbon export remineralization length scale mesozooplankton ecology pteropods marine biogeochemistry sinking particles marine snow Ecology Geology |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Sciences biological pump carbon export remineralization length scale mesozooplankton ecology pteropods marine biogeochemistry sinking particles marine snow Ecology Geology Stukel, Michael R Ohman, Mark D Kelly, Thomas B Biard, Tristan The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Sciences biological pump carbon export remineralization length scale mesozooplankton ecology pteropods marine biogeochemistry sinking particles marine snow Ecology Geology |
description |
Zooplankton are important consumers of sinking particles in the ocean's twilight zone. However, the impact of different taxa depends on their feeding mode. In contrast to typical suspension-feeding zooplankton, flux-feeding taxa preferentially consume rapidly sinking particles that would otherwise penetrate into the deep ocean. To quantify the potential impact of two flux-feeding zooplankton taxa [Aulosphaeridae (Rhizaria), and Limacina helicina (euthecosome pteropod)] and the total suspension-feeding zooplankton community, we measured depth-stratified abundances of these organisms during six cruises in the California Current Ecosystem. Using allometric-scaling relationships, we computed the percentage of carbon flux intercepted by flux feeders and suspension feeders. These estimates were compared to direct measurements of carbon flux attenuation (CFA) made using drifting sediment traps and 238U-234Th disequilibrium. We found that CFA in the shallow twilight zone typically ranged from 500 to 1000 μmol organic C flux remineralized per 10-m vertical depth bin. This equated to approximately 6-10% of carbon flux remineralized/10 m. The two flux-feeding taxa considered in this study could account for a substantial proportion of this flux near the base of the euphotic zone. The mean flux attenuation attributable to Aulosphaeridae was 0.69%/10 m (median = 0.21%/10 m, interquartile range = 0.04-0.81%) at their depth of maximum abundance (~100 m), which would equate to ~10% of total flux attenuation in this depth range. The maximum flux attenuation attributable to Aulosphaeridae reached 4.2%/10 m when these protists were most abundant. L. helicina, meanwhile, could intercept 0.45-1.6% of carbon flux/10 m, which was slightly greater (on average) than the Aulosphaeridae. In contrast, suspension-feeding zooplankton in the mesopelagic (including copepods, euphausiids, appendicularians, and ostracods) had combined clearance rates of 2-81 L m-3 day-1 (mean of 19.6 L m-3 day-1). This implies a substantial impact on slowly ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stukel, Michael R Ohman, Mark D Kelly, Thomas B Biard, Tristan |
author_facet |
Stukel, Michael R Ohman, Mark D Kelly, Thomas B Biard, Tristan |
author_sort |
Stukel, Michael R |
title |
The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
title_short |
The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
title_full |
The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
title_fullStr |
The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Roles of Suspension-Feeding and Flux-Feeding Zooplankton as Gatekeepers of Particle Flux Into the Mesopelagic Ocean in the Northeast Pacific |
title_sort |
roles of suspension-feeding and flux-feeding zooplankton as gatekeepers of particle flux into the mesopelagic ocean in the northeast pacific |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/93k1314m |
op_coverage |
397 |
genre |
Limacina helicina Copepods |
genre_facet |
Limacina helicina Copepods |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, vol 6, iss JUL |
op_relation |
qt93k1314m https://escholarship.org/uc/item/93k1314m |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1781701374508007424 |