Krill and salp faecal pellets contribute equally to the carbon flux at the Antarctic Peninsula

Pauli, Nora‐Charlotte; Flintrop, Clara M.; Konrad, Christian; Pakhomov, Evgeny A.; Swoboda, Steffen; Koch, Florian; Wang, Xinliang; Zhang, Jichang; Brierley, Andrew S.; Bernasconi, Matteo; Meyer, Bettina; Iversen, Morten Hvitfeldt

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27436-9

Cited by 30 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 69 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…salps in the high Antarctic regions could have profound implications for the biological carbon pump in the SO as well as possible pelagic food web consequences (Böckmann et al, 2021;Pauli et al, 2021a;Pauli et al, 2021b). These findings highlight the importance of understanding seasonal differences in the biology and physiology of salps in order to assess their resilience to environmental changes and how the population might develop under the predicted climate change scenarios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Seasonal and Form-Specific Gene Expression Signatures Uncover Different Generational Strategies of the Pelagic Tunicate Salpa thompsoni During the Southern Ocean Winter

Müller

Michael²,

Urso³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The pelagic tunicate Salpa thompsoni is recognized as a major metazoan grazer in the Southern Ocean. Long term observations show an increase in this species’ biomass and a southward shift in its distribution both of which are positively correlated with ocean warming and winter sea ice decline around the Antarctic Peninsula. However, our understanding on how salps adapt their life cycle to the extreme seasonality of the Southern Ocean and the putative differences between its two reproductive forms (aggregates, solitaries) is rudimentary. In particular, our current knowledge of whether and how S. thompsoni overwinter is limited, largely due to winter sampling constraints. In this study, we investigated the form-specific gene expression profiles of Salpa thompsoni during the austral autumn and winter. Between the seasons, genes related to translation showed the biggest difference in gene expression. We found more genes were upregulated in solitaries compared to aggregates, indicating a potentially form-specific overwintering strategy. Our data provide first insights into the seasonal and form-specific physiology of salps by considering their complex life cycle, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the response of salps to seasonal changes in their environment and to anthropogenic induced global climate change.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Seasonal and Form-Specific Gene Expression Signatures Uncover Different Generational Strategies of the Pelagic Tunicate Salpa thompsoni During the Southern Ocean Winter

Müller

Michael²,

Urso³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This flux was actively transported down as respiratory carbon via DVM and may represent an important source of carbon removal in the oceans. In the Southern Ocean, macrozooplankton was estimated to contribute 0.12 Gt C y -1 to total modeled carbon export across 150 m (Karakus ̧et al, 2021) and zooplanktonmediated processes accounted for up to 80% of salp fecal pellet flux (Pauli et al, 2021). Altogether, a mean global carbon export of ~10.2 Gt C y -1 was recently estimated, still containing high uncertainties, especially due to high spatial and seasonal variability.…”

Section: Wooddmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zooplankton modifies organic carbon via ingestion, sloppy feeding, incorporation into body tissue (growth, reproduction), egestion, i.e. repackaging into fecal pellets, excretion and respiration Steinberg and Landry, 2017;Maas et al, 2020;Pauli et al, 2021). In terms of passive carbon fluxes, these processes affect aggregate size spectra, biochemical composition, and consequently, sinking speed of particulate organic carbon on its way to the deep sea (Kiørboe, 2000;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of passive carbon fluxes, these processes affect aggregate size spectra, biochemical composition, and consequently, sinking speed of particulate organic carbon on its way to the deep sea (Kiørboe, 2000;. Fecal pellets can be degraded by the microbial loop, re-ingested by zooplankton and/or they may sink further to deeper layers forming larger, rapidly sinking aggregates (Stamieszkin et al, 2015;Steinberg and Landry, 2017;Pauli et al, 2021). Fecal pellet flux usually accounts for ≤40% of total passive POC flux.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pellet size, density and the abundance of key zooplankton taxa are critical determinants of passive POC fluxes. Pellets of copepods and euphausiids are able to sink tens to hundreds of meters per day, while larger and denser salp fecal pellets cover a daily distance of more than one thousand meters (Thor et al, 2003;Turner, 2015;Steinberg and Landry, 2017;Karakus ̧et al, 2021;Pauli et al, 2021). In the Southern Ocean, for instance, feeding behavior and vertical distribution of the zooplankton community directly impacted the amount of carbon exported to the deep ocean (Manno et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Cascading effects of calanoid copepod functional groups on the biological carbon pump in the subtropical South Atlantic

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Life strategies, ecophysiological performances and diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton key species affect the efficiency and strength of the biological carbon pump (BCP). However, it is unclear to what extent different functional groups affect the BCP. Depth-stratified day and night samples (0-800 m) from the subtropical South Atlantic were analyzed focusing on the calanoid copepod community. Calanoid abundance, biomass distribution and species-specific impact on the passive (fecal pellets) and active (via DVM) vertical flux of carbon were determined. Species were assigned to different migrant groups where, their contributions were estimated by using the proportion of the migratory community instead of simple day-night differences in biomass. This novel approach leads to more robust flux estimates, particularly for small sample sizes. According to migration ranges and day/night residence depth, functional groups were characterized, i.e. small- and large-scale epipelagic and mesopelagic migrants. Epipelagic small-scale migrants transported respiratory (1.5 mg C m-2 d-1) and fecal pellet (1.1 mg C m-2 d-1) carbon from the upper to the lower epipelagic zone, where the latter can fuel the microbial loop, and thus deep chlorophyll maxima, or be ingested by other zooplankton. Large-scale migrants actively transported up to 10.5 mg C m-2 d-1 of respiratory carbon from the epipelagic layer into the twilight zone. The majority was transported by Pleuromamma borealis (5.7 mg C m-2 d-1) into the upper mesopelagic. In addition, up to 8.0 mg C m-2 d-1 was potentially egested as fecal material by large-scale zone shifters. Mesopelagic migrants transported respiratory (0.2 mg C m-2 d-1) and fecal pellet carbon (0.1 mg C m-2 d-1) even deeper into the ocean. Community consumption of migrants in the epipelagic layer during the night was 98 mg C m-2 d-1, while non-migrants consumed 98-208 mg C m-2 d-1 in the epipelagic zone, with a potential subsequent egestion of 29-62 mg C m-2 d-1. This carbon may fuel omnivorous-detritivorous feeding, the microbial loop and/or may sink as fecal pellets. This case study shows how calanoid functional groups mediate carbon fluxes in the subtropical South Atlantic Ocean and demonstrates how detailed community analyses can elucidate the complexity of pelagic carbon budgets.

show abstract

Massive circumpolar biomass of Southern Ocean zooplankton: Implications for food web structure, carbon export, and marine spatial planning

Yang

Atkinson

Pakhomov

et al. 2022

Limnology & Oceanography

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With rapid, sector‐specific climatic changes impacting the Southern Ocean, we need circumpolar‐scale biomass data of its plankton taxa to improve food web models, blue carbon budgets and resource management. Here, we provide a new dataset on mesozooplankton biomass with 2909 records spanning the last 90 yr, and describe, in comparable carbon units, their circumpolar distribution alongside those of phytoplankton, Antarctic krill, and salps. With our datasets, we estimate total summer carbon biomasses for phytoplankton (36 MT), mesozooplankton (67 MT), krill (30 MT), and salps (1.7 MT). The mesozooplankton value is much higher than previously reported and, added to that of krill and salps, points to an enormous overall biomass of zooplankton in the Southern Ocean. This means that the pyramids of biomass are often inverted, with higher biomass of zooplankton than of phytoplankton. Such high biomasses suggest key roles of grazers in nutrient cycling and we estimate an export of ~ 50 Mt C yr−1, solely from mortality of overwintering zooplankton that typically reside at depth. Deep lipid respiration (the lipid pump), for example, would increase this export even further. While inverted biomass pyramids prevailed at mid latitudes (50°–70°S), the balance of taxa differed regionally: for example, with biomass dominance by phytoplankton (highest latitudes and Pacific sector), mesozooplankton (Kerguelen Plateau), krill (north and east Scotia Sea), and salps (Crozet area). In light of contrasting climate change impacts between these sectors, we provide data that will underpin biogeochemical and food web models, blue carbon budgets, and the planning of marine protected areas.

show abstract

Krill and salp faecal pellets contribute equally to the carbon flux at the Antarctic Peninsula

Cited by 30 publications

References 69 publications

Seasonal and Form-Specific Gene Expression Signatures Uncover Different Generational Strategies of the Pelagic Tunicate Salpa thompsoni During the Southern Ocean Winter

Seasonal and Form-Specific Gene Expression Signatures Uncover Different Generational Strategies of the Pelagic Tunicate Salpa thompsoni During the Southern Ocean Winter

Cascading effects of calanoid copepod functional groups on the biological carbon pump in the subtropical South Atlantic

Massive circumpolar biomass of Southern Ocean zooplankton: Implications for food web structure, carbon export, and marine spatial planning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About