Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump
The efficiency of the ocean's biological carbon pump (BCP eff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air–sea partitioning of CO 2 . Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCP eff are poorly known...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:006043d24d0244c0be1bad58d7a4f51d 2023-05-15T17:34:57+02:00 Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump E. L. Cavan S. A. Henson A. Belcher R. Sanders 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 https://doaj.org/article/006043d24d0244c0be1bad58d7a4f51d EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/177/2017/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 https://doaj.org/article/006043d24d0244c0be1bad58d7a4f51d Biogeosciences, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 177-186 (2017) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 2022-12-31T11:25:35Z The efficiency of the ocean's biological carbon pump (BCP eff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air–sea partitioning of CO 2 . Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCP eff are poorly known. We investigate the potential role that zooplankton play in the biological carbon pump using both in situ observations and model output. Observed and modelled estimates of fast, slow, and total sinking fluxes are presented from three oceanic sites: the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, the temperate North Atlantic, and the equatorial Pacific oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). We find that observed particle export efficiency is inversely related to primary production likely due to zooplankton grazing, in direct contrast to the model estimates. The model and observations show strongest agreement in remineralization coefficients and BCP eff at the OMZ site where zooplankton processing of particles in the mesopelagic zone is thought to be low. As the model has limited representation of zooplankton-mediated remineralization processes, we suggest that these results point to the importance of zooplankton in setting BCP eff , including particle grazing and fragmentation, and the effect of diel vertical migration. We suggest that improving parameterizations of zooplankton processes may increase the fidelity of biogeochemical model estimates of the biological carbon pump. Future changes in climate such as the expansion of OMZs may decrease the role of zooplankton in the biological carbon pump globally, hence increasing its efficiency. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Southern Ocean Pacific Biogeosciences 14 1 177 186 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 E. L. Cavan S. A. Henson A. Belcher R. Sanders Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The efficiency of the ocean's biological carbon pump (BCP eff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air–sea partitioning of CO 2 . Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCP eff are poorly known. We investigate the potential role that zooplankton play in the biological carbon pump using both in situ observations and model output. Observed and modelled estimates of fast, slow, and total sinking fluxes are presented from three oceanic sites: the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, the temperate North Atlantic, and the equatorial Pacific oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). We find that observed particle export efficiency is inversely related to primary production likely due to zooplankton grazing, in direct contrast to the model estimates. The model and observations show strongest agreement in remineralization coefficients and BCP eff at the OMZ site where zooplankton processing of particles in the mesopelagic zone is thought to be low. As the model has limited representation of zooplankton-mediated remineralization processes, we suggest that these results point to the importance of zooplankton in setting BCP eff , including particle grazing and fragmentation, and the effect of diel vertical migration. We suggest that improving parameterizations of zooplankton processes may increase the fidelity of biogeochemical model estimates of the biological carbon pump. Future changes in climate such as the expansion of OMZs may decrease the role of zooplankton in the biological carbon pump globally, hence increasing its efficiency. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
E. L. Cavan S. A. Henson A. Belcher R. Sanders |
author_facet |
E. L. Cavan S. A. Henson A. Belcher R. Sanders |
author_sort |
E. L. Cavan |
title |
Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
title_short |
Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
title_full |
Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
title_fullStr |
Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
title_full_unstemmed |
Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
title_sort |
role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 https://doaj.org/article/006043d24d0244c0be1bad58d7a4f51d |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 177-186 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/177/2017/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 https://doaj.org/article/006043d24d0244c0be1bad58d7a4f51d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
177 |
op_container_end_page |
186 |
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1766133958212321280 |