Protist Community Grazing on Prokaryotic Prey in Deep Ocean Water Masses.

Oceanic protist grazing at mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths, and their subsequent effects on trophic links between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, are not well constrained. Recent studies show evidence of higher than expected grazing activity by protists down to mesopelagic depths. This study provide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Emma Rocke, Maria G Pachiadaki, Alec Cobban, Elizabeth B Kujawinski, Virginia P Edgcomb
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015
Subjects:
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Antarctic
Antarc*
NADW
North Atlantic Deep Water
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124505
https://doaj.org/article/7ebcca2a14ad42ca99935b3edb8bbdb2
Description
Summary:Oceanic protist grazing at mesopelagic and bathypelagic depths, and their subsequent effects on trophic links between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, are not well constrained. Recent studies show evidence of higher than expected grazing activity by protists down to mesopelagic depths. This study provides the first exploration of protist grazing in the bathypelagic North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Grazing was measured throughout the water column at three stations in the South Atlantic using fluorescently-labeled prey analogues. Grazing in the deep Antarctic Intermediate water (AAIW) and NADW at all three stations removed 3.79% ± 1.72% to 31.14% ± 8.24% of the standing prokaryote stock. These results imply that protist grazing may be a significant source of labile organic carbon at certain meso- and bathypelagic depths.

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