Archive for copepod

Zooplankton-fueled carbon export is changing in the North Atlantic Ocean

Posted by mmaheigan 
· Monday, June 10th, 2019 

Zooplankton-mediated carbon export is an important, but variable and relatively unconstrained part of the biological carbon pump—the processes that fix atmospheric carbon dioxide in organic material and transport it from the upper sunlit ocean to depth. Changes in the biological pump impact the climate system, but are challenging to quantify because such analyses require spatially and temporally explicit information about biological, chemical, and physical properties of the ocean, where empirical observations are in short supply.

A recent study in Nature, Ecology and Evolution focused on copepods in the northern half of the North Atlantic Ocean, where the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) time series program has documented surface plankton abundance and taxonomic composition for nearly six decades. Copepods transport carbon passively by producing sinking fecal pellets while feeding near the sea surface, and actively via daily and seasonal migrations to deeper waters where carbon is released through respiration, defecation, and mortality. Using allometry, metabolic theory, and an optimal behavior model, the authors examined patterns of passive and active carbon transport from 1960 to 2014 and sensitivity of carbon export to different model inputs.

Figure caption: Spatial distribution and change, from 1960 to 2014, of modeled copepod-mediated carbon flux: top left – mean passive carbon flux (sinking fecal pellets), bottom left – change in passive carbon flux, top right – mean active carbon flux (respiration plus fecal pellets produced during diel vertical migration), bottom right – change in active carbon flux.

The authors observed that from southern Iceland to the Gulf of Maine, copepod-mediated carbon transport has increased over the last six decades, with the highest rates around 30 mgC m-2 y-1 each decade for passive flux, and 4 mgC m-2 y-1 each decade for active flux. Meanwhile, it has decreased across much of the more temperate central northern North Atlantic with highest rates around 69 mgC m-2 y-1 each decade for passive flux and 8 mgC m-2 y-1 each decade for active flux. This pattern is largely driven by changes in copepod population distributions and community structure, specifically the distributions of large and abundant species (e.g. Calanus spp.). These results suggest that shifts in species distributions driven by a changing global climate are already impacting ecosystem function across the northern North Atlantic Ocean. These shifts are not latitudinally uniform, thus highlighting the complexity of marine ecosystems. This study demonstrates the importance of these sustained plankton measurements and how plankton-mediated carbon fluxes can be mechanistically implemented in next-generation biogeochemical models.

Authors:
Philipp Brun (Technical University of Denmark and Swiss Federal Research Institute)
Karen Stamieszkin (University of Maine, Bigelow Lab and Virginia Institute of Marine Science)
Andre W. Visser (Technical University of Denmark)
Priscilla Licandro (Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy)
Mark R. Payne (Technical University of Denmark)
Thomas Kiørboe (Technical University of Denmark)

 

Also see OCB2019 plenary session: The effect of size on ocean processes (allometry) and implications for export (Thursday, June 27, 2019)

Filter by Keyword

acidification air-sea interactions allometry AMOC Antarctic anthropogenic anthropogenic carbon aragonite saturation aragonite saturation state arctic argo Argo float arsenic Atlantic Atlantic modeling atmospheric CO2 atmospheric nitrogen deposition authigenic carbonates autonomous observing autonomous platforms bacteria BATS bcg-argo bioavailability biogeochemical cycles biogeochemical models biological pump biological uptake biophysics bloom blooms blue carbon bottom water boundary layer CaCO3 calcification calcite carbon-climate feedback carbon-sulfur coupling carbon cycle carbon dioxide carbon sequestration Caribbean CCS changing marine ecosystems changing ocean chemistry chemoautotroph chl a chlorophyll circulation climate change CO2 coastal ocean cobalt Coccolithophores community composition conservation cooling effect copepod coral reefs currents DCM decomposers decomposition deep convection deep ocean deep sea coral depth diagenesis diatoms DIC DIC vertical flux dimethylsulfide dissolved organic carbon dissolve inorganic carbon DOC domoic acid dust earth system models eddy Education Ekman transport emissions ENSO enzyme equatorial regions estuarine and coastal carbon fluxes estuary evolution EXPORTS extreme weather events faecal pellets filter feeders filtration rates fish Fish carbon fisheries floats fluid dynamics fluorescence food web food webs forams freshening frontal zone future oceans geochemistry geoengineering GEOTRACES glaciers gliders global carbon budget global ocean global warming go-ship greenhouse gas Greenland groundwater Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Gulf Stream gyre harmful algal bloom high latitude human impact hydrothermal hypoxia ice age ice ages ice cores ice cover industrial onset iron iron fertilization isotopes jellies katabatic winds kelvin waves krill kuroshio land-ocean continuum larvaceans lateral transport lidar ligands mangroves marine food webs marine snowfall marshes meltwater mesopelagic mesoscale metagenome metals methane microbes microlayer microorganisms microscale microzooplankton midwater mixed layer mixotrophy modeling models mode water mode water formation molecular diffusion MPT multi-decade NASA net community production new technology nitrate nitrogen nitrogen fixation nitrous oxide north atlantic north pacific nutricline nutrient budget nutrient cycling nutrient flux nutrient limitation nutrients OA ocean-atmosphere ocean acidification ocean carbon uptake & storage ocean carbon uptake and storage ocean color ocean observatories ocean observing ODZ oligotrophic omics OMZ open ocean optics organic alkalinity organic particles overturning circulation oxygen pacific pacific ocean paleoceanography particle flux particulate organic carbon pCO2 PDO peat pelagic pH phenology phosphorus photosynthesis physical processes physics physiology phytoplankton plankton POC polar regions polar systems pollutants prediction primary production primary productivity productivity proteins pteropods radioisotopes remineralization remote sensing residence time resource management respiration river rivers Rossby waves Ross Sea ROV salinity salt marsh salt marshes satellite satellites scale seafloor seagrass sea ice sea level rise seasonal patterns seaweed sediment carbon sediments sensors shelf system ship-based observations silicate sinking particles size SOCCOM soil carbon sources and sinks southern ocean south pacific speciation species oscillations subduction submesoscale subpolar subtropical subtropical gyres subtropical mode water surface ocean surface water teleconnections temperate temperature thermohaline thorium tidal time-series time of emergence top predators total alkalinity trace element trace elements trace metals trait-based transfer efficiency transient features trophic transfer tropical turbulence twilight zone upper ocean upper water column upwelling US CLIVAR validation velocity gradient ventilation vertical flux vertical migration vertical mixing vertical transport vertical transport/flux volcano western boundary currents wetlands winter mixing zooplankton

Copyright © 2020 - OCB Project Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Rd, MS #25, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA Phone: 508-289-2838  •  Fax: 508-457-2193  •  Email: ocb_news@us-ocb.org

link to nsflink to noaalink to WHOI

Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.