IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-022-35204-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Salp blooms drive strong increases in passive carbon export in the Southern Ocean

Author

Listed:
  • Moira Décima

    (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
    University of California at San Diego)

  • Michael R. Stukel

    (Florida State University
    Florida State University)

  • Scott D. Nodder

    (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA))

  • Andrés Gutiérrez-Rodríguez

    (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
    Centro Oceanográfico de Gijón, Avenida Príncipe de Asturias)

  • Karen E. Selph

    (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa)

  • Adriana Lopes dos Santos

    (Nanyang Technological University)

  • Karl Safi

    (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)

  • Thomas B. Kelly

    (Florida State University
    University of Alaska)

  • Fenella Deans

    (University of Otago)

  • Sergio E. Morales

    (University of Otago)

  • Federico Baltar

    (University of Vienna)

  • Mikel Latasa

    (Centro Oceanográfico de Gijón, Avenida Príncipe de Asturias)

  • Maxim Y. Gorbunov

    (The State University of New Jersey)

  • Matt Pinkerton

    (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA))

Abstract

The Southern Ocean contributes substantially to the global biological carbon pump (BCP). Salps in the Southern Ocean, in particular Salpa thompsoni, are important grazers that produce large, fast-sinking fecal pellets. Here, we quantify the salp bloom impacts on microbial dynamics and the BCP, by contrasting locations differing in salp bloom presence/absence. Salp blooms coincide with phytoplankton dominated by diatoms or prymnesiophytes, depending on water mass characteristics. Their grazing is comparable to microzooplankton during their early bloom, resulting in a decrease of ~1/3 of primary production, and negative phytoplankton rates of change are associated with all salp locations. Particle export in salp waters is always higher, ranging 2- to 8- fold (average 5-fold), compared to non-salp locations, exporting up to 46% of primary production out of the euphotic zone. BCP efficiency increases from 5 to 28% in salp areas, which is among the highest recorded in the global ocean.

Suggested Citation

  • Moira Décima & Michael R. Stukel & Scott D. Nodder & Andrés Gutiérrez-Rodríguez & Karen E. Selph & Adriana Lopes dos Santos & Karl Safi & Thomas B. Kelly & Fenella Deans & Sergio E. Morales & Federico, 2023. "Salp blooms drive strong increases in passive carbon export in the Southern Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-35204-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35204-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35204-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-35204-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C. Manno & S. Fielding & G. Stowasser & E. J. Murphy & S. E. Thorpe & G. A. Tarling, 2020. "Continuous moulting by Antarctic krill drives major pulses of carbon export in the north Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. V. Loeb & V. Siegel & O. Holm-Hansen & R. Hewitt & W. Fraser & W. Trivelpiece & S. Trivelpiece, 1997. "Effects of sea-ice extent and krill or salp dominance on the Antarctic food web," Nature, Nature, vol. 387(6636), pages 897-900, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen-Xin Jiang & Ping-Yi Li & Xiu-Lan Chen & Yi-Shuo Zhang & Jing-Ping Wang & Yan-Jun Wang & Qi Sheng & Zhong-Zhi Sun & Qi-Long Qin & Xue-Bing Ren & Peng Wang & Xiao-Yan Song & Yin Chen & Yu-Zhong Zhan, 2022. "A pathway for chitin oxidation in marine bacteria," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Nora-Charlotte Pauli & Clara M. Flintrop & Christian Konrad & Evgeny A. Pakhomov & Steffen Swoboda & Florian Koch & Xin-Liang Wang & Ji-Chang Zhang & Andrew S. Brierley & Matteo Bernasconi & Bettina M, 2021. "Krill and salp faecal pellets contribute equally to the carbon flux at the Antarctic Peninsula," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Matthew S. Savoca & Mehr Kumar & Zephyr Sylvester & Max F. Czapanskiy & Bettina Meyer & Jeremy A. Goldbogen & Cassandra M. Brooks, 2024. "Whale recovery and the emerging human-wildlife conflict over Antarctic krill," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-35204-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.