Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump

Cavan, Emma L.; Henson, Stephanie A.; Belcher, Anna; Sanders, Richard

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-177-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 1

Research article

|

12 Jan 2017

Research article |

| 12 Jan 2017

Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump

Emma L. Cavan, Stephanie A. Henson, Anna Belcher, and Richard Sanders

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Final revised paper (published on 12 Jan 2017)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 23 Jun 2016)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Review of Role of zooplankton in determining the efficiency of the biological carbon pump', Anonymous Referee #1, 16 Aug 2016
- AC1: 'Response to Reviewer 1', Emma Cavan, 10 Nov 2016
RC2: 'general comments', Anonymous Referee #2, 15 Oct 2016
- AC2: 'Response to Reviewer 2', Emma Cavan, 10 Nov 2016

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (13 Nov 2016) by Gerhard Herndl

AR by Emma Cavan on behalf of the Authors (05 Dec 2016) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (08 Dec 2016) by Gerhard Herndl

AR by Emma Cavan on behalf of the Authors (20 Dec 2016)

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Short summary

The biological carbon pump (BCP) plays a key role in regulating atmospheric CO₂. Controls on the efficiency at which this occurs are poorly known. Here we combine in situ observations with an ecosystem model to show that zooplankton have an important role in regulating the efficiency of the BCP. Predicted future changes in ocean conditions, such as expansion of oxygen minimum zones, may decrease the role of zooplankton in the BCP globally, increasing its efficiency and altering atmospheric CO₂.