Vertical Flux of Biogenic Carbon in the Ocean: Is There Food Web Control?

Models of biogenic carbon (BC) flux assume that short herbivorous food chains lead to high export, whereas complex microbial or omnivorous food webs lead to recycling and low export, and that export of BC from the euphotic zone equals new production (NP). In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, particulate org...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1996-05, Vol.272 (5265), p.1163-1166
Main Authors: Rivkin, Richard B., Legendre, Louis, Deibel, Don, Tremblay, Jean-Éric, Klein, Bert, Crocker, Kenneth, Roy, Suzanne, Silverberg, Norman, Lovejoy, Connie, Mesplé, Fabrice, Romero, Nancy, Anderson, M. Robin, Matthews, Paul, Savenkoff, Claude, Vézina, Alain, Therriault, Jean-Claude, Wesson, Joel, Bérubé, Chantal, Ingram, R. Grant
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Brackish water ecosystems
Carbon cycle
Carbon cycle (Biogeochemistry)
Chlorophylls
Euphotic zone
Exports
Food chains
Food chains (Ecology)
Food webs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Marine
Oceans
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Plant cells
Primary productivity
Ratios
Synecology
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Summary:Models of biogenic carbon (BC) flux assume that short herbivorous food chains lead to high export, whereas complex microbial or omnivorous food webs lead to recycling and low export, and that export of BC from the euphotic zone equals new production (NP). In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, particulate organic carbon fluxes were similar during the spring phytoplankton bloom, when herbivory dominated, and during nonbloom conditions, when microbial and omnivorous food webs dominated. In contrast, NP was 1.2 to 161 times greater during the bloom than after it. Thus, neither food web structure nor NP can predict the magnitude or patterns of BC export, particularly on time scales over which the ocean is in nonequilibrium conditions.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.272.5265.1163