The missing piece of the upper mesopelagic carbon budget? Biomass, vertical distribution and feeding of aggregate-associated copepods at the PAP site

Koski, Marja; Valencia, Bellineth; Newstead, R.G.; Thiele, Christina J.

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102243

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The suggestion that zooplankton play a quantitatively important role in attenuating the vertical flux of carbon is not new. [18] Numerous small copepods are reported to associate with detrital particles, including the cyclopoid genera Oithona, Oncaea and Corycaeus, and harpacticoids of the genus Microsetella [19][20][21] (Figure 1). These animals are typically <1 mm long and, despite frequently being under sampled using "standard" 200 µm zooplankton nets, are believed to be amongst the most abundant animals on Earth.…”

Section: Particle-associated Copepods Lessen the Flux Of Sinking Orgamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These animals are typically <1 mm long and, despite frequently being under sampled using "standard" 200 µm zooplankton nets, are believed to be amongst the most abundant animals on Earth. [20,22] Several studies have identified PAC as the "gate-keepers" of particle flux at the base of the euphotic zone, [21,[23][24][25][26] but exactly how they attenuate the flux of sinking particles remains poorly understood. PAC are reported to consume a diversity of living and non-living food items including ciliates, dinoflagellates and diatoms, along with detrital particles and the fecal pellets of larger animals.…”

Section: Particle-associated Copepods Lessen the Flux Of Sinking Orgamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ocean carbon sequestration: Particle fragmentation by copepods as a significant unrecognised factor?

Mayor

Gentleman²,

Anderson

2020

BioEssays

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Ocean biology helps regulate global climate by fixing atmospheric CO 2 and exporting it to deep waters as sinking detrital particles. New observations demonstrate that particle fragmentation is the principal factor controlling the depth to which these particles penetrate the ocean's interior, and hence how long the constituent carbon is sequestered from the atmosphere. The underlying cause is, however, poorly understood. We speculate that small, particle-associated copepods, which intercept and inadvertently break up sinking particles as they search for attached protistan prey, are the principle agents of fragmentation in the ocean. We explore this idea using a new marine ecosystem model. Results indicate that explicitly representing particle fragmentation by copepods in biogeochemical models offers a step change in our ability to understand the future evolution of biologically-mediated ocean carbon storage. Our findings highlight the need for improved understanding of the distribution, abundance, ecology and physiology of particle-associated copepods. K E Y W O R D S biological carbon pump, climate regulation, detritus, fragmentation, ocean carbon cycle, zooplankton 12 gigatonnes of this organic matter sinks down into the mesopelagic zone, [2] nominally defined as the region of water between 100 and 1000 m deep, as a mixture of dead or dying cells, animal carcasses This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © The Authors. BioEssays published by Wiley Periodicals LLC and feces. Most of this sinking flux is remineralised via ocean biology before it reaches 1000 m. [3-5] The depth at which organic matter is remineralised determines the residence time of the constituent carbon in the ocean, with important consequences for global climate. [6] It is estimated that the suite of biological processes that result in the storage of carbon in the deep ocean, collectively known as the "biological carbon pump" (BCP), reduce the concentration of atmospheric CO 2 by up to 50% of what it would otherwise be. [7] Understanding the mechanisms that control the strength and efficiency of the BCP is integral to developing our capacity to reliably predict future climate.

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Section: Particle-associated Copepods Lessen the Flux Of Sinking Orgamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Particle-associated Copepods Lessen the Flux Of Sinking Orgamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean carbon sequestration: Particle fragmentation by copepods as a significant unrecognised factor?

Mayor

Gentleman²,

Anderson

2020

BioEssays

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“…The idea that small particle-associated copepods could fragment a large proportion of sinking particles is not new, but distributions of these copepods and the specific consequences of their feeding activities are poorly constrained and rarely incorporated into biogeochemical models. [3,5] The authors openly recognize uncertainties within their model, particularly those resulting from our limited understanding of the distribution, physiology and ecology of small particle-associated copepods. These copepods are too small to be quantitatively sampled in many routine zooplankton surveys, and there is very limited understanding as to how the metabolism and demography of this group varies seasonally and with depth.…”

Section: Why Do Feeding Activities Of Small Copepods Merit Such Scrutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly "small particle-associated copepods" is a loose functional term that encompasses species with a wide range of distributions, feeding modes and prey preferences. [3] Thus, an additional future challenge will be to synthesize empirical measurements within this heterogenous group to develop informative trait-based models. The model developed by Mayor et al provides a compelling argument for the oceanographic community to prioritize these efforts.…”

Section: Why Do Feeding Activities Of Small Copepods Merit Such Scrutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The idea that small particle‐associated copepods could fragment a large proportion of sinking particles is not new, but distributions of these copepods and the specific consequences of their feeding activities are poorly constrained and rarely incorporated into biogeochemical models. [ 3,5 ] Here, Mayor et al. modified an existing marine ecosystem model to explicitly consider the biogeochemical consequences of small particle‐associated copepods feeding on fast‐sinking particles.…”

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Small copepods could play a big role in the marine carbon cycle

Tarrant

2020

BioEssays

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Functional responses of aggregate‐colonizing copepods

Koski

Lombard

2022

Limnology & Oceanography

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Zooplankton consumption of aggregates, such as marine snow, is an important factor in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. However, the feeding rates of aggregate-associated small harpacticoid and poecilostomatoid copepods are largely unknown, as are the factors that influence these rates. We measured the functional responses of pellet production (PP) of aggregate-feeding copepods on appendicularian houses, algal and detrital aggregates, and on Trichodesmium spp. tufts. The PP rates of all copepods increased with increasing aggregate concentrations, but the response varied depending on the aggregate type. The pelagic harpacticoid copepod Microsetella norvegica had the highest PP rates on algal aggregates, while the poecilostomatoid copepod Oncaea spp. and the benthic harpacticoid copepod Amonardia normanni PP rates were highest on appendicularian houses. The ingestion rates of M. norvegica and Oncaea spp. were typically 0.04-0.13 μg C ind. À1 d À1 , with the exception of ca. three times higher rates of Oncaea spp. on appendicularian houses and ca. 10 times higher rates of M. norvegica on algal aggregates. The ingestion rates of the larger species, A. normanni, were generally higher, 0.3-1.3 μg C ind. À1 d À1 on algal aggregates, and even ca. 10-fold higher on appendicularian houses. Our results suggest that the aggregate degradation rates by copepods can vary manyfold depending on the quality (origin) of the aggregate and the copepod species. This can have large consequences for the attenuation of vertical carbon flux.

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The missing piece of the upper mesopelagic carbon budget? Biomass, vertical distribution and feeding of aggregate-associated copepods at the PAP site

Cited by 26 publications

References 79 publications

Ocean carbon sequestration: Particle fragmentation by copepods as a significant unrecognised factor?

Ocean carbon sequestration: Particle fragmentation by copepods as a significant unrecognised factor?

Small copepods could play a big role in the marine carbon cycle

Functional responses of aggregate‐colonizing copepods

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