Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump
The efficiency of the ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCPeff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air-sea partitioning of CO2. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCPeff are poorly known. We inve...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2017
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Online Access: | https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/1/Cavan%2520et%2520al%2520bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/2/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/3/bg-14-177-2017-supplement.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/4/bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/5/bg-2016-251-supplement.pdf |
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:403842 2023-07-30T04:05:30+02:00 Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump Cavan, Emma L. Henson, Stephanie A. Belcher, Anna Sanders, Richard 2017-01-12 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/1/Cavan%2520et%2520al%2520bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/2/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/3/bg-14-177-2017-supplement.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/4/bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/5/bg-2016-251-supplement.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/1/Cavan%2520et%2520al%2520bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/2/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/3/bg-14-177-2017-supplement.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/4/bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/5/bg-2016-251-supplement.pdf Cavan, Emma L., Henson, Stephanie A., Belcher, Anna and Sanders, Richard (2017) Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. Biogeosciences, 14, 177-186. (doi:10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 <http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017>). cc_by_4 other Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 2023-07-09T22:12:24Z The efficiency of the ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCPeff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air-sea partitioning of CO2. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCPeff 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 BCPeff 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 BCPeff, 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 University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Pacific Southern Ocean Biogeosciences 14 1 177 186 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
The efficiency of the ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCPeff – here the product of particle export and transfer efficiencies) plays a key role in the air-sea partitioning of CO2. Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCPeff 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 BCPeff 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 BCPeff, 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 |
Cavan, Emma L. Henson, Stephanie A. Belcher, Anna Sanders, Richard |
spellingShingle |
Cavan, Emma L. Henson, Stephanie A. Belcher, Anna Sanders, Richard Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
author_facet |
Cavan, Emma L. Henson, Stephanie A. Belcher, Anna Sanders, Richard |
author_sort |
Cavan, Emma L. |
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 |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/1/Cavan%2520et%2520al%2520bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/2/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/3/bg-14-177-2017-supplement.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/4/bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/5/bg-2016-251-supplement.pdf |
geographic |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/1/Cavan%2520et%2520al%2520bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/2/bg-14-177-2017.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/3/bg-14-177-2017-supplement.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/4/bg-2016-251.pdf https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/403842/5/bg-2016-251-supplement.pdf Cavan, Emma L., Henson, Stephanie A., Belcher, Anna and Sanders, Richard (2017) Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. Biogeosciences, 14, 177-186. (doi:10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 <http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017>). |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 other |
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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1772817469630578688 |