The Role of Zooplankton Community Composition in Fecal Pellet Carbon Production in the York River Estuary, Chesapeake Bay.

ABSTRACT: Zooplankton play a key role in the cycling of carbon in aquatic ecosystems, yet their production of carbon-rich fecal pellets, which sink to depth and can fuel benthic community metabolism, is rarely quantified in estuaries. We measured fecal pellet carbon (FPC) production by the whole near-surface mesozooplankton community in the York River sub-estuary of Chesapeake Bay. Zooplankton biomass and taxonomic composition were measured with monthly paired day/night net tows. Live animal experiments were used to quantify FPC production rates of the whole community and dominant individual taxa. Zooplankton biomass increased in surface waters at night (2- to 29-fold) due to diel vertical migration, especially by Acartia spp. copepods. Biomass and diversity were seasonally low in the winter

SUBMITTER: Sharpe KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11561122 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature