Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump

Cavan, Emma L.; Henson, Stephanie A.; Belcher, Anna; Sanders, Richard

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

Research article

|

12 Jan 2017

Research article |

| 12 Jan 2017

Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump

Emma L. Cavan, Stephanie A. Henson, Anna Belcher, and Richard Sanders

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017-supplement

Data sets

Carbon concentration and sinking velocity of particles measured during the James Cook cruise JC087, March 2013 E. Cavan and A. Belcher https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.833364

Marine snow sinking velocities and POC aggregate flux E. L. Cavan and R. Sanders http://www.bodc.ac.uk

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Short summary

The biological carbon pump (BCP) plays a key role in regulating atmospheric CO₂. Controls on the efficiency at which this occurs are poorly known. Here we combine in situ observations with an ecosystem model to show that zooplankton have an important role in regulating the efficiency of the BCP. Predicted future changes in ocean conditions, such as expansion of oxygen minimum zones, may decrease the role of zooplankton in the BCP globally, increasing its efficiency and altering atmospheric CO₂.