Microzooplankton Grazing in the Eastern Bering Sea in Summer ...

• Main Authors: Stoecker, Diane K., Weigel, Alison, Goes, Joaquim I.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Columbia University 2013
• Subjects: Marine biology; Marine ecology; Chemical oceanography; Environmental sciences; Bering Sea; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8dz069x; https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8DZ069X

Dilution experiments to estimate microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton were conducted during the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010 in the Eastern Bering Sea as part of the BEST-BSIERP integrated ecosystem project. All three summers followed cold springs in the Bering Sea. Average microzooplankton grazing coefficients were relatively similar among regions, ranging from 0.16 to 0.34 d−1 in simulated in situ incubations with mixed-layer water collected from the depth of the 55% Io isolume. In Off Shelf and Outer Shelf domains, microzooplankton consumed 67–78% of phytoplankton daily growth but in the Middle and Inner Shelf domains, microzooplankton grazing exceeded phytoplankton daily growth. Regional estimates of microzooplankton ingestion of phytoplankton carbon ranged from 4.4 to 11.0 µg C d−1, with highest ingestion in the Off Shelf, Outer Shelf, and Alaska Peninsula regions and, lower ingestion in the Middle Shelf and Inner Shelf regions. On the northern Middle Shelf, a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) ...