Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer
The passive sinking flux of particles, termed the biological gravitational pump (BGP), is an important component of the ocean’s biological carbon pump. In addition, carbon-rich particles are actively injected to depth through the diel vertical migration (DVM) of micronekton and mesozooplankton from...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1461723/full |
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| author | Katherine Baker Katherine Baker Svenja Halfter Svenja Halfter Ben Scoulding Kerrie M. Swadling Kerrie M. Swadling Shane A. Richards Matthieu Bressac Matthieu Bressac Caroline A. Sutton Philip W. Boyd Philip W. Boyd |
| author_facet | Katherine Baker Katherine Baker Svenja Halfter Svenja Halfter Ben Scoulding Kerrie M. Swadling Kerrie M. Swadling Shane A. Richards Matthieu Bressac Matthieu Bressac Caroline A. Sutton Philip W. Boyd Philip W. Boyd |
| author_sort | Katherine Baker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The passive sinking flux of particles, termed the biological gravitational pump (BGP), is an important component of the ocean’s biological carbon pump. In addition, carbon-rich particles are actively injected to depth through the diel vertical migration (DVM) of micronekton and mesozooplankton from the surface to the oceans’ twilight zone (200 m – 1000 m depth). This is known as the mesopelagic-migrant pump (MMP). We investigated the magnitude of the MMP at one subantarctic and two polar sites in summer by assessing particulate and dissolved carbon export below 200 m depth based on DVM and the composition of the mesopelagic community. Carbon injection potential (CIP) for the dominant taxa at each site was estimated through four pathways, i.e., excretion, respiration, fecal pellets, and carcass production. Blooms of two migratory tunicate species, the pyrosome Pyrosoma atlanticum (subantarctic) and the salp Salpa thompsoni (polar) dominated the micronekton biomass and MMP export ranged from 5.0 to 9.4 mg C m-2 d-1 across the three Southern Ocean sites. Mesozooplankton abundance was dominated by copepods, which contributed an additional 0.7 to 32.2 mg C m-2 d-1 to the MMP. Results from this summertime study suggest an increase in the relative importance of the MMP compared to the BGP south of the Polar Front, however, future work should target the seasonality of the MMP, which necessitates linking environmental drivers to micronekton and mesozooplankton community composition, life history, and DVM. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8f972e476fdd44139dab6760016a5988 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-8f972e476fdd44139dab6760016a59882025-01-28T05:10:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-01-011210.3389/fmars.2025.14617231461723Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summerKatherine Baker0Katherine Baker1Svenja Halfter2Svenja Halfter3Ben Scoulding4Kerrie M. Swadling5Kerrie M. Swadling6Shane A. Richards7Matthieu Bressac8Matthieu Bressac9Caroline A. Sutton10Philip W. Boyd11Philip W. Boyd12Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaAustralian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New ZealandEnvironment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Hobart, TAS, AustraliaInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaAustralian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaSchool of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaSorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, LOV, Villefranche-sur-Mer, FranceEnvironment, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Hobart, TAS, AustraliaInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaAustralian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, AustraliaThe passive sinking flux of particles, termed the biological gravitational pump (BGP), is an important component of the ocean’s biological carbon pump. In addition, carbon-rich particles are actively injected to depth through the diel vertical migration (DVM) of micronekton and mesozooplankton from the surface to the oceans’ twilight zone (200 m – 1000 m depth). This is known as the mesopelagic-migrant pump (MMP). We investigated the magnitude of the MMP at one subantarctic and two polar sites in summer by assessing particulate and dissolved carbon export below 200 m depth based on DVM and the composition of the mesopelagic community. Carbon injection potential (CIP) for the dominant taxa at each site was estimated through four pathways, i.e., excretion, respiration, fecal pellets, and carcass production. Blooms of two migratory tunicate species, the pyrosome Pyrosoma atlanticum (subantarctic) and the salp Salpa thompsoni (polar) dominated the micronekton biomass and MMP export ranged from 5.0 to 9.4 mg C m-2 d-1 across the three Southern Ocean sites. Mesozooplankton abundance was dominated by copepods, which contributed an additional 0.7 to 32.2 mg C m-2 d-1 to the MMP. Results from this summertime study suggest an increase in the relative importance of the MMP compared to the BGP south of the Polar Front, however, future work should target the seasonality of the MMP, which necessitates linking environmental drivers to micronekton and mesozooplankton community composition, life history, and DVM.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1461723/fullmicronektonmesozooplanktonSouthern Oceandiel vertical migrationactive carbon export |
| spellingShingle | Katherine Baker Katherine Baker Svenja Halfter Svenja Halfter Ben Scoulding Kerrie M. Swadling Kerrie M. Swadling Shane A. Richards Matthieu Bressac Matthieu Bressac Caroline A. Sutton Philip W. Boyd Philip W. Boyd Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer Frontiers in Marine Science micronekton mesozooplankton Southern Ocean diel vertical migration active carbon export |
| title | Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer |
| title_full | Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer |
| title_fullStr | Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer |
| title_short | Carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic-migrant pump in the Southern Ocean during summer |
| title_sort | carbon injection potential of the mesopelagic migrant pump in the southern ocean during summer |
| topic | micronekton mesozooplankton Southern Ocean diel vertical migration active carbon export |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1461723/full |
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