Effects of Temperature on the Metabolic Stoichiometry of Arctic Zooplankton

We assessed the relationship between zooplankton metabolism (respiration and inorganic N and P excretion) and "in situ" temperature through a grid of stations representing a range of natural temperature variation during the ATOS-Arctic cruise (July 2007). The objective was to explore not o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alcaraz, M., Almeda, R., Saiz, E., Calbet, A., Duarte, C. M., Agusti, S., Santiago, R., Alonso, A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
marine zooplankton
dynamic action
carbon budget
grazing rates
body-mass
respiration
excretion
copepods
ocean
dependence
ecology
geosciences
multidisciplinary
Arctic
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Copepods
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2152/43234
https://doi.org/10.15781/T2HX15T3P
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-689-2013
Description
Summary:We assessed the relationship between zooplankton metabolism (respiration and inorganic N and P excretion) and "in situ" temperature through a grid of stations representing a range of natural temperature variation during the ATOS-Arctic cruise (July 2007). The objective was to explore not only the direct effects of temperature on zooplankton carbon respiratory losses (hereafter C-R) and NH4-N and PO4-P excretion rates (hereafter N-E and P-E, respectively), but also to investigate whether these metabolic pathways responded similarly to temperature, and so how temperature could affect the stoichiometry of the metabolic products. Metabolic rates, normalised to per unit of zooplankton carbon biomass, increased with increasing temperature following the Arrhenius equation. However, the activation energy differed for the various metabolic processes considered. Respiration, C-R, was the metabolic activity least affected by temperature, followed by N-E and P-E, and as a consequence the values of the C-R : N-E, C-R : P-E and N-E : P-E atomic quotients were inversely related to temperature. The effects of temperature on the stoichiometry of the excreted N and P products would contribute to modifying the nutrient pool available for phytoplankton and induce qualitative and quantitative shifts in the size, community structure and chemical composition of primary producers that could possibly translate to the whole Arctic marine food web. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation POL2006-00550/CTM, CTM2006-12344-C01, CTM2011-23480 ATP EU 226248 Marine Science

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