Large deep-sea zooplankton biomass mirrors primary production in the global ocean.

ABSTRACT: The biological pump transports organic carbon produced by photosynthesis to the meso- and bathypelagic zones, the latter removing carbon from exchanging with the atmosphere over centennial time scales. Organisms living in both zones are supported by a passive flux of particles, and carbon transported to the deep-sea through vertical zooplankton migrations. Here we report globally-coherent positive relationships between zooplankton biomass in the epi-, meso-, and bathypelagic layers and average net primary production (NPP). We do so based on a global assessment of available deep-sea zooplankton biomass data and large-scale estimates of average NPP. The relationships obtained imply that increased NPP leads to enhanced transference of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Estimated remineralizati

SUBMITTER: Hernandez-Leon S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7695708 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature