Abstract
The current lack of adequate investigations of the vertical export above the depth of 200-500 m where the majority of long-term sediment traps have been deployed, results in difficulties to understand and model the carbon flux. There exists a black box of several hundred metres between the surface layers where measurements and algorithms of primary production exists and where data on the carbon export to the ocean interior are available. In this black box, the twilight zone, we face a lack of basic understanding on how vertical export of biogenic matter into the oceans interior is regulated. Essential for this regulation are planktonic key organisms and the structure and dynamics of the pelagic food web. To better comprehend the pelagic carbon cycle and sequestration of CO2, it is instrumental to obtain a basic understanding how the biota determines and transforms the export production in the twilight zone. Here we discuss some of the key organisms involved in vertical flux regulation, present an idealised, conceptual model of vertical carbon export and focus upon the “pelagic mill” and vertical flux regulation in the upper 200 m. An adequate understanding of carbon cycling demands not only adequate investigations of primary production, but also concomitant research on the functional biodiversity of the pelagic zone, plankton dynamics, vertical flux and its regulation in the twilight zone.
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Wassmann, P., Olli, K., Riser, C.W., Svensen, C. (2003). Ecosystem Function, Biodiversity and Vertical Flux Regulation in the Twilight Zone. In: Wefer, G., Lamy, F., Mantoura, F. (eds) Marine Science Frontiers for Europe. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55862-7_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55862-7_19
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