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 airsea partitioning of CO 2 . Despite its importance in the global carbon cycle, the biological processes that control BCP eff are poorly known. W...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:116303 2023-05-15T17:34:29+02:00 Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump Cavan, EL Henson, SA Belcher, A Sanders, R 2017 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303 en eng Copernicus GmbH http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303/1/Cavan et al 2017.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 Cavan, EL and Henson, SA and Belcher, A and Sanders, R, Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump, Biogeosciences, 14 pp. 177-186. ISSN 1726-4170 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303 Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Oceanography Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 2019-12-13T22:15:52Z 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 airsea 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 eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Pacific Southern Ocean Biogeosciences 14 1 177 186 |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Oceanography Cavan, EL Henson, SA Belcher, A Sanders, R Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Oceanography Biological Oceanography |
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 airsea 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 |
Cavan, EL Henson, SA Belcher, A Sanders, R |
author_facet |
Cavan, EL Henson, SA Belcher, A Sanders, R |
author_sort |
Cavan, EL |
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 GmbH |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303 |
geographic |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303/1/Cavan et al 2017.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017 Cavan, EL and Henson, SA and Belcher, A and Sanders, R, Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump, Biogeosciences, 14 pp. 177-186. ISSN 1726-4170 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/116303 |
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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1766133337422823424 |