Abstract
A variable fraction of fecal pellets produced in the epipelagic layer is intercepted and retained before reaching the bottom. We assessed fecal pellet retention in the ice-covered Beaufort Sea in early February by comparing the shape and size-frequency distribution of pellets collected by a sediment trap moored at 210 m to that produced in vitro. Appendicularian ellipsoidal and copepod cylindrical pellets made up 75 and 24% of the flux (165 μg C m−2 day−1). In contrast, production (135 μg C m−2 day−1) was dominated by cylindrical pellets (93%). The vertical flux of cylindrical pellets at 210 m was attenuated by 70%. Pellets >120 μm in width, represented 42% of the production, but were not detected in the trap. Retention most likely resulted from coprorhexic feeding by copepods such as Metridia longa. Our observations suggest that the detritivore food web prevailing under the ice of the Arctic Ocean in winter is dominated by appendicularians feeding on pellets fragmented by copepods.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the officers and crew of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen for their competent help at sea. L. Michaud, S. Matsuda, T. Connelly, L. Létourneau, P. Massot and S. Blondeau contributed to field work and/or laboratory analyses. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for giving us valuable comments and suggestions on a manuscript. Part of this study was supported by grants from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to MF (Grant #: 11208203) and HS (Grant #:16510010) and from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to LF. This is a contribution to the program of Québec-Océan and the Canada Research Chair on the response of marine arctic ecosystems to climate warming.
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Sampei, M., Forest, A., Sasaki, H. et al. Attenuation of the vertical flux of copepod fecal pellets under Arctic sea ice: evidence for an active detrital food web in winter. Polar Biol 32, 225–232 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0523-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0523-z