Alternative energy pathways in Southern Ocean food webs: Insights from a balanced model of Prydz Bay, Antarctica

McCormack, Stacey A.; Melbourne-Thomas, Jess; Trebilco, Rowan; Blanchard, Julia L.; Constable, Andrew J.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2019.07.001

Cited by 27 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Aggregation of lower trophic levels is often necessary to reduce uncertainty related to incomplete trophic information 112 . These models (Table 1) are focused on the Antarctic Peninsula where the information required to parameterise krill life stages is available, while systemspecific information for krill is unavailable for regions such as the Indian sector where few foodweb models exist 114 . Whilst E. superba are often parameterised as a separate functional group in Southern Ocean foodweb models (Table 1), the same cannot be said for biogeochemical models, where typically krill are incorporated into a large zooplankton pool 115 .…”

Section: Implications Of Declining E Superba Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles

et al. 2019

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Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are swarming, oceanic crustaceans, up to two inches long, and best known as prey for whales and penguinsbut they have another important role. With their large size, high biomass and daily vertical migrations they transport and transform essential nutrients, stimulate primary productivity and influence the carbon sink. Antarctic krill are also fished by the Southern Ocean's largest fishery. Yet how krill fishing impacts nutrient fertilisation and the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean is poorly understood. Our synthesis shows fishery management should consider the influential biogeochemical role of both adult and larval Antarctic krill. O cean biogeochemical cycles are paramount in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels and in governing the nutrients available for phytoplankton growth 1. As phytoplankton are essential in most marine food webs, biogeochemistry is also important in fuelling fishery production 2. The role of phytoplankton in atmospheric CO 2 drawdown and fish production has been the central focus of many biogeochemical studies (e.g., refs. 3,4). However, despite evidence of their potential importance, higher organisms (metazoa) such as zooplankton (e.g., copepods and salps), nekton (e.g., adult krill and fish), seabirds and mammals 5-12 , have received less attention concerning their roles in the global biogeochemical cycles. One of the main mechanisms by which metazoa can influence biogeochemical cycles is through the biological pump 1 (Fig. 1). The biological pump describes a suite of biological processes that ultimately sequester atmospheric CO 2 into the deep ocean on long timescales. During photosynthesis in the surface, ocean phytoplankton produce organic matter and a fraction (< 40 %) sinks to deeper waters 13. It is estimated that 5-12 Gt C is exported from the global surface ocean annually 14 , with herbivorous metazoa contributing to the biological pump by releasing fast-sinking faecal pellets, respiring carbon at depth originally assimilated in the surface ocean and by excreting nutrients near the surface promoting further phytoplankton

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Section: Implications Of Declining E Superba Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles

et al. 2019

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“…Microbes also decompose organic material from the whale fall, releasing large amounts of nutrients, and respired CO 2 and potentially refractory dissolved organic carbon are locked in the deep ocean for decades or even centuries (Jiao et al, 2010;Cavan et al, 2019a). Elsewhere in the Southern Ocean, such as in the central Indian sector, E. superba are important but do not dominate the ecosystem as they do in the Atlantic (Everson, 2000;McCormack et al, to be published in this research topic). Near Prydz Bay, cephalopods dominate the food web, with most carbon cycling through them to sperm whales and leopard seals (McCormack et al, 2019).…”

Section: Carbon Storage In Pelagic and Benthic Consumersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elsewhere in the Southern Ocean, such as in the central Indian sector, E. superba are important but do not dominate the ecosystem as they do in the Atlantic (Everson, 2000;McCormack et al, to be published in this research topic). Near Prydz Bay, cephalopods dominate the food web, with most carbon cycling through them to sperm whales and leopard seals (McCormack et al, 2019). This constitutes a longer food chain of at least five trophic levels: phytoplankton, copepods, krill, cephalopods and sperm whales or seals.…”

Section: Carbon Storage In Pelagic and Benthic Consumersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Biogeochemistry of the Southern Ocean and Its Ecosystem Implications

et al. 2020

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“…Unlike the Atlantic, few food web descriptions exist for East Antarctica although many studies have begun hinting at species that might be key contributors to energy flow within the Indian sector food web (McCormack et al., 2019). The shelf community off East Antarctica is generally dominated by the neritic Euphausia crystallorophias (Nicol & Raymond, 2012), which has previously been identified as an important prey species in the diets of breeding Adélie penguins (Puddicombe & Johnstone, 1988), crabeater seals (Hempel, 1985), and various whales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marine ecosystem models have been, and continue to be, developed for different parts of the Southern Ocean, some of which are at much smaller spatial scales than sectors, for example, West Pacific (Ross Sea—Pinkerton et al., 2010), Indian (Prydz Bay—McCormack et al., 2019; northern Kerguelen Plateau—Subramaniam et al., 2020), Atlantic (South Georgia—Hill et al., 2012), and East Pacific (West Antarctic Peninsula—Ballerini et al., 2014; Cornejo‐Donoso & Antezana, 2008; Dahood et al., 2019; Suprenand & Ainsworth, 2017). A core component of developing these models involves representing food web interactions among species and functional groups at appropriate spatial scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decades of dietary data demonstrate regional food web structures in the Southern Ocean

McCormack

Melbourne‐Thomas

Trebilco

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Southern Ocean food webs are of major importance to humans and the global system, underpinning diverse values and services including the existence of wildlife populations, high-value fisheries, and carbon sequestration (Grant et al., 2013). Historically, the emphasis of food web studies in Antarctica has related to the dominance of Euphausia superba (Antarctic krill) and the dependencies of so many of the Southern Ocean predators on that species (Brasier

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Alternative energy pathways in Southern Ocean food webs: Insights from a balanced model of Prydz Bay, Antarctica

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles

The importance of Antarctic krill in biogeochemical cycles

Changing Biogeochemistry of the Southern Ocean and Its Ecosystem Implications

Decades of dietary data demonstrate regional food web structures in the Southern Ocean

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