scholarly journals Modeling the Impact of Zooplankton Diel Vertical Migration on the Carbon Export Flux of the Biological Pump

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Archibald ◽  
David A. Siegel ◽  
Scott C. Doney
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pritha Tutasi ◽  
Ruben Escribano

Abstract. Diel vertical migration (DVM) can enhance the vertical flux of carbon (C), and so contributes to the functioning of the biological pump in the ocean. The magnitude and efficiency of this active transport of C may depend on the size and taxonomic structure of the migrant zooplankton. However, the impact that a variable community structure can have on zooplankton-mediated downward C flux has not been properly addressed. This taxonomic effect may become critically important in highly productive eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUSs), where high levels of zooplankton biomass are found in the coastal zone and are composed by a diverse community with variable DVM behavior. In these systems, presence of a subsurface oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) can impose an additional constraint to vertical migration and so influence the downward C export. Here, we address these issues based on a vertically stratified zooplankton sampling at three stations off northern Chile (20–30∘ S) during November–December 2015. Automated analysis of zooplankton composition and taxa-structured biomass allowed us to estimate daily migrant biomass by taxa and their amplitude of migration. We found that a higher biomass aggregates above the oxycline, associated with more oxygenated surface waters and this was more evident upon a more intense OMZ. Some taxonomic groups, however, were found closely associated with the OMZ. Most taxa were able to perform DVM in the upwelling zone withstanding severe hypoxia. Also, strong migrants, such as eucalanid copepods and euphausiids, can exhibit a large migration amplitude (∼500 m), remaining either temporarily or permanently within the core of the OMZ and thus contributing to the release of C below the thermocline. Our estimates of DVM-mediated C flux suggested that a mean migrant biomass of ca. 958 mg C m−2 d−1 may contribute with about 71.3 mg C m−2 d−1 to the OMZ system through respiration, mortality and C excretion at depth, accounting for ca. 4 % of the net primary production, and so implies the existence of an efficient mechanism to incorporate freshly produced C into the OMZ. This downward C flux mediated by zooplankton is however spatially variable and mostly dependent on the taxonomic structure due to variable migration amplitude and DVM behavior.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Pinti ◽  
Timothy DeVries ◽  
Tommy Norin ◽  
Camila Serra-Pompei ◽  
Roland Proud ◽  
...  

Diel vertical migration of fish and other metazoans actively transports organic carbon from the ocean surface to depth, contributing to the biological carbon pump. Here, we use a global vertical migration model to estimate global carbon fluxes and sequestration by fish and metazoans due to respiration, fecal pellets, and deadfalls. We estimate that fish and metazoans contribute 5.2 PgC/yr (2.1-8.8PgC/yr) to passive export out of the euphotic zone. Together with active transport, we estimate that fish are responsible for 20% (9-29%) of global carbon export, and 32% (18-43%) of oceanic carbon sequestration, with forage and deep-dwelling mesopelagic fish contributing the most. This essential ecosystem service could be at risk from unregulated fishing on the high seas.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8809
Author(s):  
Meike Anika Hahn ◽  
Eric Von Elert

In freshwater zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM) is a widespread predator-avoidance behavior that is induced by kairomones released from fish. Thereby zooplankton reduces predation by fish by staying in deep and dark colder strata during daytime and migrating into warmer layers during night, and thus experiences diel alterations in temperature. Constantly lower temperatures have been shown to increase the relative abundance of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in Daphnia sp. Furthermore, a low dietary supply of the ω3-PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has been shown to limit the induction of DVM in Daphnia magna and the performance of D. magna under fluctuating temperatures, as experienced during DVM. In nature DVM of D. magna in response to fish is accompanied by the presence of fish-borne kairomone and diel fluctuations of depth dependent-parameters like temperature, food, and oxygen supply. Here we investigated the effect of factors, which are differing between Daphnia that perform DVM and those which do not. We selected to examine the effect of changing temperature and light conditions and of the presence/absence of fish kairomones on D. magna. For this purpose, we conducted a full factorial experimental design in which we grew D. magna under constantly warm temperatures in a diel light-dark regime or under alternating temperatures in darkness crossed with the presence or absence of fish kairomones. We analyzed the fatty acid composition of mature animals and of their offspring in each treatment. Simulation of the light and temperature regime of migrating animals in presence of the fish kairomone resulted in an increased relative allocation of the ω3-PUFA EPA, from adult animals to their offspring, manifesting as decreased EPA concentrations in mothers and increased EPA concentrations in their offspring in response to simulated DVM (mothers). Additionally, EPA concentrations in the offspring were affected by the interaction of simulated DVM and the fish cue. The presence of the fish kairomone alone increased the EPA concentration in the offspring, that was not experiencing simulated DVM. These findings lead to the conclusion that the temperature and light regime associated with DVM alone, as well as in combination with the DVM-inducing fish kairomones, alter the allocation of fatty acids to the offspring in a manner, which is beneficial for the offspring under the decreased average temperatures, which migrating animals are exposed to. A low dietary supply of ω3-PUFAs may constrain D. magna’s amplitude of DVM, but our results suggest that the next generation of animals may be capable of regaining the full DVM amplitude due to the effect of the fish kairomone and the experienced temperature fluctuations (and darkness) on tissue fatty acid composition. These findings suggest that fatty acid limitation in DVM performing Daphnia may be more severe for the maternal than for the offspring generation.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. Moreno ◽  
George I. Hagstrom ◽  
Francois W. Primeau ◽  
Simon A. Levin ◽  
Adam C. Martiny

Abstract. Marine phytoplankton stoichiometry links nutrient supply to marine carbon export. Deviations of phytoplankton stoichiometry from Redfield proportions (106C : 1P) could therefore have a significant impact on carbon cycling, and understanding which environmental factors drive these deviations may reveal new mechanisms that regulate the carbon cycle. To explore the links between environmental conditions, stoichiometry, and carbon cycling, we compared four different models for variations in phytoplankton C : P: a fixed Redfield model, a model with C : P given as a function of surface phosphorus concentration ([P]), a model with C : P given as a function of temperature, and a new multi-environmental model that predicts C : P as a function of light, temperature, and [P]. These stoichiometric models were embedded into a box model of the ocean circulation, which resolves the three major ocean biomes (high-latitude, subtropical gyres, and iron-limited tropical upwelling regions). Contrary to the expectation of a monotonic relationship between surface nutrient drawdown and carbon export, we found that lateral nutrient transport from lower C : P tropical waters to high C : P subtropical waters could cause carbon-export to decrease with increased tropical nutrient utilization. Temperature is thought to be one of the primary drivers of changes in atmospheric pCO2 (pCO2,atm) across glacial/interglacial periods, and it has been hypothesized that a positive feedback between temperature and pCO2,atm will play an important role in anthropogenic climate change, with changes in the biological pump playing at most a secondary role. Here we show that environmentally driven shifts in stoichiometry make the biological pump more influential, and may reverse the expected negative relationship between temperature and pCO2,atm. In the temperature-only model changes in tropical temperature have more impact on the Δ pCO2,atm (~ 41 ppm) compared to subtropical temperature (~ 4.5 ppm). Our multi-environmental model produced a decline in pCO2,atm of ~ 46 when temperature spanned a change of 10 °C. Thus, we find that variation in marine phytoplankton stoichiometry and its environmental controlling factor can lead to counterintuitive controls on pCO2,atm, suggesting the need for further studies of ocean C : P and the impact on ocean carbon cycling.


2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 478-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Bianchi ◽  
Charles Stock ◽  
Eric D. Galbraith ◽  
Jorge L. Sarmiento

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 2761-2779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. Moreno ◽  
George I. Hagstrom ◽  
Francois W. Primeau ◽  
Simon A. Levin ◽  
Adam C. Martiny

Abstract. Marine phytoplankton stoichiometry links nutrient supply to marine carbon export. Deviations of phytoplankton stoichiometry from Redfield proportions (106C : 1P) could therefore have a significant impact on carbon cycling, and understanding which environmental factors drive these deviations may reveal new mechanisms regulating the carbon cycle. To explore the links between environmental conditions, stoichiometry, and carbon cycling, we compared four different models of phytoplankton C : P: a fixed Redfield model, a model with C : P given as a function of surface phosphorus concentration (P), a model with C   P given as a function of temperature, and a new multi-environmental model that predicts C : P as a function of light, temperature, and P. These stoichiometric models were embedded into a five-box ocean circulation model, which resolves the three major ocean biomes (high-latitude, subtropical gyres, and tropical upwelling regions). Contrary to the expectation of a monotonic relationship between surface nutrient drawdown and carbon export, we found that lateral nutrient transport from lower C : P tropical waters to high C : P subtropical waters could cause carbon export to decrease with increased tropical nutrient utilization. It has been hypothesized that a positive feedback between temperature and pCO2, atm will play an important role in anthropogenic climate change, with changes in the biological pump playing at most a secondary role. Here we show that environmentally driven shifts in stoichiometry make the biological pump more influential, and may reverse the expected positive relationship between temperature and pCO2, atm. In the temperature-only model, changes in tropical temperature have more impact on the Δ pCO2, atm (∼ 41 ppm) compared to subtropical temperature changes (∼ 4.5 ppm). Our multi-environmental model predicted a decline in pCO2, atm of ∼ 46 ppm when temperature spanned a change of 10 °C. Thus, we find that variation in marine phytoplankton stoichiometry and its environmental controlling factors can lead to nonlinear controls on pCO2, atm, suggesting the need for further studies of ocean C : P and the impact on ocean carbon cycling.


2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1911) ◽  
pp. 20191645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Pinti ◽  
Thomas Kiørboe ◽  
Uffe H. Thygesen ◽  
André W. Visser

Diel vertical migration (DVM), the daily movement of organisms through oceanic water columns, is mainly driven by spatio-temporal variations in the light affecting the intensity of predator–prey interactions. Migration patterns of an organism are intrinsically linked to the distribution of its conspecifics, its prey and its predators, each with their own fitness-seeking imperatives. We present a mechanistic, trait-based model of DVM for the different components of a pelagic community. Specifically, we consider size, sensory mode and feeding mode as key traits, representing a community of copepods that prey on each other and are, in turn, preyed upon by fish. Using game-theoretic principles, we explore the optimal distribution of the main groups of a planktonic pelagic food web simultaneously. Within one single framework, our model reproduces a whole suite of observed patterns, such as size-dependent DVM patterns of copepods and reverse migrations. These patterns can only be reproduced when different trophic levels are considered at the same time. This study facilitates a quantitative understanding of the drivers of DVM, and is an important step towards mechanistically underpinned predictions of DVM patterns and biologically mediated carbon export.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pritha Tutasi ◽  
Ruben Escribano

Abstract. The daily vertical movement of zooplankton, known as diel vertical migration (DVM), can enhance the vertical flux of carbon (C) and so contributing to the functioning of the biological pump. The magnitude and efficiency of this active transport of C may depend on the size and taxonomic structure of the migrant zooplankton. However, the impact that a variable community structure can have on zooplankton-mediated downward C has not been properly addressed. This taxonomic effect may become critically important in highly productive eastern boundary upwelling systems (EBUS), where zooplankton biomass becomes aggregated in the coastal zone, but comprised by a highly variable community structure (size-composition). In these systems, presence of a subsurface oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) can impose an additional constraint to vertical migration and so influencing the downward C export. Here, we address these issues based on a high-resolution zooplankton sampling at three stations off northern Chile (20°S−30°S) during November 2015. Automated analysis of zooplankton composition and taxa-structured biomass allowed us to estimate daily migrant biomass by taxa, amplitude of migration and daily rate of migration, defined as the daily exchange of biomass between the upper mixed layer and below the thermocline. We found that high biomass aggregates above the oxycline, associated with more oxygenated surface waters and this condition was more evident upon a more intense OMZ. Some taxa however, were found closely associated with the OMZ. We found that most taxa were able to perform DVM in the upwelling zone withstanding severe hypoxia. Even, several strong migrants, such as copepods Eucalanidae and Euphausiids, can exhibit a large migration amplitude (~500 m), remaining either temporarily or permanently during the day or night condition within the core of the OMZ and so contributing to the release of C below the thermocline. Our estimates of DVM-mediated C flux showed that migrant biomass (5099 ± 2701 mg C m−2d−1) may contribute with about 678 ± 465 mg C m−2d−1 to the OMZ system through respiration, mortality, and production of fecal pellets, implying the existence of a very efficient mechanism to incorporate freshly produced C into the OMZ. This downward C by zooplankton is however strongly depending on taxonomic structure due to variable migration amplitude and behavior affecting the daily rate of diel vertical migration.


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