Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Publication Title

Biogeosciences

Keywords

Zooplankton communities, Biological resources, Shrimps, Vertical zones, Plankton

ISSN

1726-4170

First Page

1

Last Page

21

Abstract

In a changing ocean there is a critical need to understand global biogeochemical cycling, particularly regarding carbon. We have made strides in understanding upper ocean dynamics, but the deep ocean interior (> 1000 m) is still largely unknown, despite representing the overwhelming majority of Earth's biosphere. Here we present a method for estimating deep-pelagic zooplankton biomass on an ocean-basin scale. We have made several new discoveries about the Atlantic, which likely apply to the world ocean. First, multivariate analysis showed that depth and Chl were the basic factors affecting the wet biomass of the main plankton groups. Wet biomass of all major groups was significantly correlated with Chl. Second, zooplankton biomass in the upper bathypelagic domain is higher than expected. Third, the majority of this biomass comprises macroplanktonic shrimps, which have been historically underestimated. These findings, coupled with recent findings of increased global deep-pelagic fish biomass, suggest that the contribution of the deep-ocean pelagic fauna for biogeochemical cycles may be more important than previously thought.

Comments

©Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-5280-7071

DOI

10.5194/bg-2016-145

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