Production and fate of copepod fecal pellets across the Southern Indian Ocean

Møller, Eva Friis; Borg, Christian Marc Andersen; Jónasdóttir, Sigrún; Satapoomin, Suree; Jaspers, Cornelia; Nielsen, Torkel Gissel

doi:10.1007/s00227-010-1591-5

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The proportion of FPC produced near the sea surface that reaches a particular depth depends on the retention of fecal pellets in the water column (Feinberg and Dam ; Wexels Riser et al ; Møller et al ). Fecal pellets generally conform to Stokes Law, which indicates that sinking rate scales with pellet radius squared (Mauchline ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux

Stamieszkin

Pershing

Record

et al. 2015

Limnology & Oceanography

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Zooplankton fecal pellet flux is a highly variable component of the biological carbon pump. While fecal pellets can comprise 0 to nearly 100% of particulate organic carbon collected in sediment traps, mechanisms for this variability remain poorly understood. Fecal pellet carbon flux is a complex function of several variables. We present a model that incorporates individual‐scale metabolic processes to determine fecal pellet production rate, the relationship between body size and fecal pellet size, the relationship between fecal pellet size and sinking rate, and a function representing the breakdown of particles in the water column. When applied to copepod communities sampled by the continuous plankton recorder in the Gulf of Maine over 25 years, a seasonal pattern of fecal pellet carbon flux emerges. The interannual flux time series produced by the model reflects known oceanographic perturbations and shows how organism‐scale processes can be scaled up to explain ecosystem level variability. We conclude that fecal pellet carbon flux in the Gulf of Maine is driven by copepod community size structure and copepod abundance, and that the fraction of fecal pellet carbon that reaches depth is a function of copepod size, rather than abundance. Changes in the physical environment which alter the size composition of the copepod community lead to variability in fecal pellet carbon flux. Our results indicate that incorporating size composition into biogeochemical models can more accurately constrain zooplankton‐mediated carbon flux.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux

Stamieszkin

Pershing

Record

et al. 2015

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Long, cylindrical krill pellets are especially prone to fragmentation by copepods and other zooplankton, thus slowing sinking rates (Lampitt et al 1990, Sampei et al 2009). Coprophagous degradation of fecal pellets by copepods is documented in polar regions, especially in winter when sea ice limits phytoplankton growth (González & Smetacek 1994, Suzuki et al 2003, Sampei et al 2009, Møller et al 2011. It is difficult to quantify fecal fluff; thus, our estimate of the importance of fecal pellet C in total flux is likely underestimated (Wilson et al 2008).…”

Section: Other Components Of the Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have round or pointed ends and are encased in a peritrophic membrane that makes the pellets more resistant to bacterial degradation and breakage (Gauld 1957, Yoon et al 2001, Köster et al 2011. Copepod fecal pellet sinking rates range from 5 to 220 m d −1 (Turner 2002, Møller et al 2011, Patonai et al 2011. Salps are indiscriminate feeders that produce very large, fast-sinking (42 to 2700 m d −1 ) 'fecal flakes' that greatly enhance the efficiency of POC transport to depth (Anderson 1998, Madin & Deibel 1998, Yoon et al 2001, Phillips et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time series of vertical flux of zooplankton fecal pellets on the continental shelf of the western Antarctic Peninsula

Gleiber¹,

Steinberg²,

Ducklow³

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Zooplankton fecal pellet contribution to particulate organic carbon (POC) flux over the continental shelf of the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) was investigated to better understand the possible effects of changes in zooplankton community structure, due to climate change, on carbon export. Fecal pellets were collected at 170 m depth in a moored sediment trap from January 2004 to January 2009. Fecal pellet shape and size (i.e., carbon content) were quantified to assess flux of pellets from different zooplankton taxa and compared between seasons and years. Fecal pellet POC constituted the dominant proportion of total POC flux, with summer (November to April) pellet POC flux (67%) significantly higher than winter (May to October) pellet POC flux (34%), while phytodetritus or fecal 'fluff' constituted the remainder. Cylindrical euphausiid pellets contributed to a monthly mean of 72% of total fecal pellet flux; ovoid copepod and tabular salp pellets contributed significantly less (22 and 6%, respectively). Cylindrical and ovoid pellet export was significantly higher in summer, while 48% of tabular pellet flux occurred in winter. Tabular pellets had the highest carbon content (median = 1.03 µgC pellet ) and ovoid (0.04 µgC pellet −1 ) pellets. As krill fecal pellets are the dominant component of particle export in the WAP, we hypothesize that a decrease in krill and increase in salps in the region could alter the export of POC to the deep sea.KEY WORDS: Southern Ocean · Particle flux · Sediment trap · Krill · Salp · Copepod · Climate Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 471: [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] 2012 variable sinking rates of 16 to 1218 m d −1 (Turner 2002, Atkinson et al. 2012). Copepods produce ellipsoid or ovoid pellets. They have round or pointed ends and are encased in a peritrophic membrane that makes the pellets more resistant to bacterial degradation and breakage (Gauld 1957, Yoon et al. 2001, Köster et al. 2011. Copepod fecal pellet sinking rates range from 5 to 220 m d −1 (Turner 2002, Møller et al. 2011, Patonai et al. 2011. Salps are indiscriminate feeders that produce very large, fast-sinking (42 to 2700 m d −1 ) 'fecal flakes' that greatly enhance the efficiency of POC transport to depth (Anderson 1998, Madin & Deibel 1998, Yoon et al. 2001, Phillips et al. 2009).Long-term zooplankton time series from a variety of environments indicate that climate is changing zooplankton community structure (Richardson 2008 and that these changes can lead to changes in the efficiency of the biological pump . The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is experiencing one of the most rapid rates of warming on Earth; since 1950, the annual mean air temperature has increased by 2°C, with average mid-winter temperatures rising by 6°C (Vaughan et al. 2003, Ducklow et al. 2012. As a result, the WAP is changing from a cold, dry, polar climate to a warm, humid, maritime climate (Ducklow et al. 2012), with a 40% decrease in s...

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“…Harpacticoid copepods such as Oncea spp. feed on the surfaces of FP, and have the potential to retain the FP material in the upper layers of the southern Indian Ocean (Møller et al 2011). The benthic harpacticoid copepod Paramphiascella fulvofasciata also ingests FP (De Troch et al 2009).…”

Section: Fp Degradation By Copepodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of copepod faecal pellets in the upper layer: role of microbial community and Calanus finmarchicus

Svensen¹,

Riser²,

Reigstad³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Copepod faecal pellets (FP) are considered important contributors to vertical carbon flux, but investigations comparing FP production with FP export using sediment traps conclude that vertical export is not their only fate. FP are degraded to a large extent in the upper 60 m, and even among large, fast-sinking FP, only a fraction reaches sediment traps deeper than 200 m. Retention mechanisms for copepod FP are still not well understood. In order to investigate the relative importance of the small (<180 µm) compartment of the plankton community versus larger filter-feeding copepods for degradation of large, fast-sinking FP, we incubated FP produced by Calanus finmarchicus (Gunnerus) in 180 µm-filtered water from the chlorophyll a maximum. From a series of experiments, we found that the degradation of large FP is time-dependent, as no degradation was apparent after 20 or 48 h of incubation, but after 72 h FP volume was reduced by 32%. We also found that large filter-feeding copepods may facilitate the degradation process, since FP degradation increased from 0 to 75% after 48 h of incubation in the presence of 5 C. finmarchicus. We conclude that ciliates and dinoflagellates are able to degrade large copepod FP, but that this process is too slow to explain observed retention of large FP in the upper 200 m of the water column due to fast sinking of large particles. Rather than looking for single-factor explanations for flux-regulating processes, we stress the importance of investigating combined effects in relevant time frames to understand the complexity of carbon flux regulation in natural systems. KEY WORDS: Faecal pellet · Faecal pellet retention · Microbial degradation · Faecal pellet fragmentation · Calanus finmarchicus · Carbon cycling Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 462: [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] 2012 by copepods. Gon zález & Smetacek (1994) hypothesised that the abundant cyclopoid copepods Oithona spp. play a key role in the retention of copepod FP, but evidence is conflicting, indicating that Oithona spp. may be indi cators for a retention community rather than the retaining organisms (Reigstad et al. 2005, Poulsen & Kiør boe 2006. This shows that organisms other than Oithona spp. could play a major role in FP retention. In an experiment investigating the effect of various size-fractions of grazers, Poulsen & Iversen (2008) concluded that heterotrophic ciliates and dinoflagellates are the main degraders of small FP from the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa and that the effect of copepods on degradation rates is comparatively minor. At high latitudes, the copepod community is dominated by larger copepod species producing larger FP. It is therefore relevant to ask if the same groups of organisms and mechanisms are important for degradation of larger FP at high latitudes.Sediment trap investigations revealed considerable attenuation of particulate organic carbon (POC) over a limited depth range (30−60 m) in areas whe...

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Production and fate of copepod fecal pellets across the Southern Indian Ocean

Cited by 23 publications

References 40 publications

Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux

Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux

Time series of vertical flux of zooplankton fecal pellets on the continental shelf of the western Antarctic Peninsula

Degradation of copepod faecal pellets in the upper layer: role of microbial community and Calanus finmarchicus

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