Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean
Zooplankton faecal pellets (FPs) are important conduits of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean, as shown by their presence in deep-sea sediment traps. Zooplankton themselves are thought to play an important role in the breakdown and reworking of FPs as they sink, whilst processes such as diel...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:521844 2023-05-15T18:16:01+02:00 Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean Liszka, Cecilia Manno, Clara Stowasser, Gabriele Robinson, Carol Tarling, Geraint 2019-04 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/1/fmars-06-00230.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230/abstract en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/1/fmars-06-00230.pdf Liszka, Cecilia orcid:0000-0003-1309-4045 Manno, Clara orcid:0000-0002-3337-6173 Stowasser, Gabriele orcid:0000-0002-0595-0772 Robinson, Carol; Tarling, Geraint orcid:0000-0002-3753-5899 . 2019 Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 230. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230 <https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230> cc_by_4 CC-BY Marine Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230 2023-02-04T19:47:31Z Zooplankton faecal pellets (FPs) are important conduits of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean, as shown by their presence in deep-sea sediment traps. Zooplankton themselves are thought to play an important role in the breakdown and reworking of FPs as they sink, whilst processes such as diel vertical migration (DVM) may enhance the supply of carbon to the mesopelagic. However, comparatively little is known about the processes or variability of FP sinking/ transport within the upper mesopelagic and how this relates to deeper ocean export. Profiles of FP type and size, and the contribution made by FPs to mesopelagic carbon flux to a depth of 400 m, were considered. Three contrasting locations in the Scotia Sea were compared, which together reflect the variability in physical regime and productivity encountered across the Southern Ocean. Comparing observed FPs with predictions from the mesozooplankton community, we show that, even at shallow depths, the smallest fraction of FP is under-represented, suggesting rapid remineralisation, incorporation into larger aggregates or reworking into larger FPs, and that the flux is dominated by FPs from larger zooplankton. In contrast to models where POC attenuation rates are set to increase with temperature, we find that FP carbon flux attenuates rapidly in low productivity, colder regions dominated by krill, while remineralisation is deeper in warmer areas where productivity is high and copepods dominate. This emphasises the strong modulation of the zooplankton community on the supply and transfer of FP carbon between the epi- and mesopelagic. Evidence was found to suggest that DVM enhances FP flux across the upper mesopelagic, producing a pulse of fresh, dense material that may support secondary production and heterotrophic respiration in the mesopelagic. This illustrates that variability in flux at short (daily) as well as longer (seasonal) timescales may have important implications for the supply of FP carbon to deeper waters. Article in Journal/Newspaper Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Copepods Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Southern Ocean Scotia Sea Frontiers in Marine Science 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Marine Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Marine Sciences Liszka, Cecilia Manno, Clara Stowasser, Gabriele Robinson, Carol Tarling, Geraint Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
topic_facet |
Marine Sciences |
description |
Zooplankton faecal pellets (FPs) are important conduits of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean, as shown by their presence in deep-sea sediment traps. Zooplankton themselves are thought to play an important role in the breakdown and reworking of FPs as they sink, whilst processes such as diel vertical migration (DVM) may enhance the supply of carbon to the mesopelagic. However, comparatively little is known about the processes or variability of FP sinking/ transport within the upper mesopelagic and how this relates to deeper ocean export. Profiles of FP type and size, and the contribution made by FPs to mesopelagic carbon flux to a depth of 400 m, were considered. Three contrasting locations in the Scotia Sea were compared, which together reflect the variability in physical regime and productivity encountered across the Southern Ocean. Comparing observed FPs with predictions from the mesozooplankton community, we show that, even at shallow depths, the smallest fraction of FP is under-represented, suggesting rapid remineralisation, incorporation into larger aggregates or reworking into larger FPs, and that the flux is dominated by FPs from larger zooplankton. In contrast to models where POC attenuation rates are set to increase with temperature, we find that FP carbon flux attenuates rapidly in low productivity, colder regions dominated by krill, while remineralisation is deeper in warmer areas where productivity is high and copepods dominate. This emphasises the strong modulation of the zooplankton community on the supply and transfer of FP carbon between the epi- and mesopelagic. Evidence was found to suggest that DVM enhances FP flux across the upper mesopelagic, producing a pulse of fresh, dense material that may support secondary production and heterotrophic respiration in the mesopelagic. This illustrates that variability in flux at short (daily) as well as longer (seasonal) timescales may have important implications for the supply of FP carbon to deeper waters. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Liszka, Cecilia Manno, Clara Stowasser, Gabriele Robinson, Carol Tarling, Geraint |
author_facet |
Liszka, Cecilia Manno, Clara Stowasser, Gabriele Robinson, Carol Tarling, Geraint |
author_sort |
Liszka, Cecilia |
title |
Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the southern ocean |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/1/fmars-06-00230.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230/abstract |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Scotia Sea |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Scotia Sea |
genre |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Copepods |
genre_facet |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Copepods |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521844/1/fmars-06-00230.pdf Liszka, Cecilia orcid:0000-0003-1309-4045 Manno, Clara orcid:0000-0002-3337-6173 Stowasser, Gabriele orcid:0000-0002-0595-0772 Robinson, Carol; Tarling, Geraint orcid:0000-0002-3753-5899 . 2019 Mesozooplankton community composition controls faecal pellet flux and remineralisation depth in the Southern Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 230. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230 <https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00230 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
6 |
_version_ |
1766189431199367168 |