TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of aggregate‐colonizing copepods on the biological carbon pump in a high‐latitude fjord
AU - Svensen, Camilla
AU - Iversen, Morten
AU - Norrbin, Fredrika
AU - Möller, Klas Ove
AU - Wiedmann, Ingrid
AU - Skarðhamar, Jofrid
AU - Barth‐Jensen, Coralie
AU - Kwasniewski, Slawomir
AU - Ormanczyk, Mateusz
AU - Dąbrowska, Anna Maria
AU - Koski, Marja
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Zooplankton consumption of sinking aggregates affects the quality and quantity of organic carbon exported to the deep ocean. Increasing laboratory evidence shows that small particle‐associated copepods impact the flux attenuation by feeding on sinking particles, but this has not been quantified in situ. We investigated the impact of an abundant particle‐colonizing copepod, Microsetella norvegica, on the attenuation of the vertical carbon flux in a sub‐Arctic fjord. This study combines field measurements of vertical carbon flux, abundance, and size‐distribution of marine snow and degradation rates of fecal pellets and algal aggregates. Female M. norvegica altered their feeding behavior when exposed to aggregates, and ingestion rates were 0.20 μg C ind.−1 d−1 on marine snow and 0.11 μg C ind.−1 d−1 on intact krill fecal pellets, corresponding to 48% and 26% of the females' body carbon mass. Due to high sea surface abundance of up to ~ 50 ind. L−1, the population of M. norvegica had the potential to account for almost all the carbon removal in the upper 50 m of the water column, depending on the type of the aggregate. Our observations highlight the potential importance of abundant small‐sized copepods for biogeochemical cycles through their impact on export flux and its attenuation in the twilight zone.
AB - Zooplankton consumption of sinking aggregates affects the quality and quantity of organic carbon exported to the deep ocean. Increasing laboratory evidence shows that small particle‐associated copepods impact the flux attenuation by feeding on sinking particles, but this has not been quantified in situ. We investigated the impact of an abundant particle‐colonizing copepod, Microsetella norvegica, on the attenuation of the vertical carbon flux in a sub‐Arctic fjord. This study combines field measurements of vertical carbon flux, abundance, and size‐distribution of marine snow and degradation rates of fecal pellets and algal aggregates. Female M. norvegica altered their feeding behavior when exposed to aggregates, and ingestion rates were 0.20 μg C ind.−1 d−1 on marine snow and 0.11 μg C ind.−1 d−1 on intact krill fecal pellets, corresponding to 48% and 26% of the females' body carbon mass. Due to high sea surface abundance of up to ~ 50 ind. L−1, the population of M. norvegica had the potential to account for almost all the carbon removal in the upper 50 m of the water column, depending on the type of the aggregate. Our observations highlight the potential importance of abundant small‐sized copepods for biogeochemical cycles through their impact on export flux and its attenuation in the twilight zone.
U2 - 10.1002/lno.12641
DO - 10.1002/lno.12641
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0024-3590
VL - 69
SP - 2029
EP - 2042
JO - Limnology and Oceanography
JF - Limnology and Oceanography
IS - 9
ER -