ZOOSWAT: A Group Study of the Structure and Function of theEpipelagic Zooplankton Community of the Sargasso Sea

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This project constitutes a portion of a large multi- investigator study examining the role of the entire heterotrophic community, from bacteria to large gelatinous zooplankton, in the recycling of primary production and its transport to depth in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea. The objectives of this specific project are to quantify the biomass and consumption rates of the microzooplankton organisms in the size range of 20-200 um. A variety of methodologies will be employed. Profiling of the resident populations will be made several times a day throughout the cruise. Different types of grazing experiments will be conducted in collaboration with other researchers on the various prey and predator groups. The project involves two major cruises to station S off Bermuda which constitutes the Atlantic time-series site for the JGOFS initiative. The cruises are scheduled for August 1989 and April 1990 to coincide with productivity minima and maxima, respectively. The systematic approach of this group project to describe and quantify the flux of primary production through the epipelagic food-web will provide critical data on how the composition of the zooplankton community affects the flux rate of organic material from the euphotic zone.