Articles | Volume 22, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7233-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7233-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
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25 Nov 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 25 Nov 2025
| 25 Nov 2025
Including different mesozooplankton feeding strategies in a biogeochemical ocean model impacts global ocean biomass and carbon cycle
Lisa Di Matteo
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, LOCEAN, 75005 Paris, France
Fabio Benedetti
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Sakina-Dorothée Ayata
Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, LOCEAN, 75005 Paris, France
Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
Olivier Aumont
Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, LOCEAN, 75005 Paris, France
Université Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM, Plouzané, France
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Alban Planchat, Lester Kwiatkowski, Laurent Bopp, Olivier Torres, James R. Christian, Momme Butenschön, Tomas Lovato, Roland Séférian, Matthew A. Chamberlain, Olivier Aumont, Michio Watanabe, Akitomo Yamamoto, Andrew Yool, Tatiana Ilyina, Hiroyuki Tsujino, Kristen M. Krumhardt, Jörg Schwinger, Jerry Tjiputra, John P. Dunne, and Charles Stock
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Gelatinous zooplankton play a key role in the ocean carbon cycle. In particular, pelagic tunicates, which feed on a wide size range of prey, produce rapidly sinking detritus. Thus, they efficiently transfer carbon from the surface to the depths. Consequently, we added these organisms to a marine biogeochemical model (PISCES-v2) and evaluated their impact on the global carbon cycle. We found that they contribute significantly to carbon export and that this contribution increases with depth.
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Martí Galí, Marcus Falls, Hervé Claustre, Olivier Aumont, and Raffaele Bernardello
Biogeosciences, 19, 1245–1275, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1245-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1245-2022, 2022
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The tropical Atlantic has been facing a massive proliferation of Sargassum since 2011, with severe environmental and socioeconomic impacts. We developed a modeling framework based on the NEMO ocean model, which integrates transport by currents and waves, and physiology of Sargassum with varying internal nutrient quota, and considers stranding at the coast. Results demonstrate the ability of the model to reproduce and forecast the seasonal cycle and large-scale distribution of Sargassum biomass.
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Co-editor-in-chief
Mesozooplankton are a size group of zooplankton (0.2 mm to 2 cm) that is often lumped together with smaller, microzooplankton taxa, and treated as a functionally homogeneous group in oceanic surveys and biogeochemical models. Di Matteo used a trait-based modeling approach that accounts for the strong functional differences among mesozooplankton taxa, here grouped as cruisers, ambushers, and flux-feeders. Integration of model results with observational data revealed clear biogeographical distribution patterns that suggest distinct roles of major mesozooplankton groups with respect to their contributions to oceanic food webs and the export of carbon to the deep ocean.
Mesozooplankton are a size group of zooplankton (0.2 mm to 2 cm) that is often lumped together...
Short summary
Mesozooplankton gather small current-drifting animals. They are very diverse and play key roles in the functioning of marine ecosystem and carbon cycle, especially through the production of rapidly sinking particles. Usually represented as one compartment, here we add three feeding strategies in an ocean biogeochemical model and investigate their impact on carbon cycle at global scale. We find distinct distributions between mesozooplankton types and diverse contributions to carbon export.
Mesozooplankton gather small current-drifting animals. They are very diverse and play key roles...
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