Kosobokova, K., Martynova, D. and Prudkovsky, A. (2006) Contribution of Zooplankton to Vertical Carbon Fluxes in the Kara and White Seas. Polarforschung, 75 (2-3). pp. 77-82.

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Abstract

Data on the zooplankton community structure, gut evacuation rate
and carbon content of zooplankton faecal pellets were used for assessing the
contribution of zooplankton to vertical carbon fluxes in the White and Kara
Seas. The results revealed strong regional and seasonal variations of pellet
carbon input related to differences in structure and dynamics of the
zooplankton communities in the regions studied. In the deep regions of the
White Sea, maximum daily pellet carbon flux from the 0-50 m layer was
observed in the spring. It reached 98 mg Corg m-2 day-1 and coincided with a
strong predominance of the large arctic herbivorous copepod Calanus
glacialis in the surface layers. In summer and fall, it decreased by 1 to 2 orders
of magnitude due to migration of this copepod to its overwintering depths. In
contrast, in the shallow coastal regions, the pellet production was low in
spring, gradually increased during summer and reached its maximum of 138
mg Corg m-2 day-1 by late summer to beginning of autumn. Such a seasonal
pattern was in accordance with the seasonal variation of abundance of major
pellet producers, the small boreal copepods Acartia bifilosa, Centropages
hamatus, and Temora longicornis. In the estuarine zone of the Kara Sea, the
pellet flux was mostly formed by pellets of brackish-water omnivorous copepods.
It varied from 35 mg Corg m-2 day-1 in 1997 to 96 mg Corg m-2 day-1 in 1999.
In the central Kara Sea with its typical marine community, the daily flux
reached 125 mg Corg m-2 day-1 in summer. The results of our calculations indicate
that both in the White and Kara seas zooplankton pellet carbon contributes
up to 30 % to the total carbon flux during particular seasons.

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