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

这个项目是将于1992年在中赤道太平洋进行的美国联合全球海洋通量研究的一部分。后生浮游动物已被确定为微粒转化和随后的有机物输出到更深的海洋层的最有可能的媒介。因此，了解生物泵的功能和评估其效率，即由浮游生物群落对生物材料的生产和消费平衡所产生的碳和氮的向下通量，需要了解浮游动物消耗和转化悬浮颗粒的速率。本项目将详细研究后生浮游动物在中赤道太平洋生物泵中的作用。将使用复杂的技术来评估200米以上浮游动物生物量、放牧率和粪便产生率的变异性。将浮游植物的特定尺寸和基于群落的消耗率与浮游植物的产量进行比较，并将粪便的产量与颗粒有机碳和氮通量相关联，以确定光合作用固定碳被摄入和可能出口到较深区域的百分比。该项目将为量化赤道太平洋中部上层碳和氮的流动提供必要的关键信息。

This project constitutes a part of the United State Joint Global Ocean Flux Study to be conducted in the Central Equatorial Pacific in 1992. Metazoan zooplankton have been identifies as the most likely agents for particle transformation and subsequent export of organic matter to deeper ocean layers. Thus, understanding the functioning and assessing the efficiency of the biological pump, that is the downward fluxes of carbon and nitrogen resulting from the balance of production and consumption of biological material by the pelagic community, requires knowledge of the rates at which zooplankton consume and transform suspended particles. This project will examine in detail the role of metazoa zooplankton in the biological pump of the central equatorial Pacific Ocean. Sophisticated techniques will be used to assess the variability in the upper 200 m of mesozooplankton biomass, grazing rates and fecal matter production rates. Size specific and community based rates of phytoplankton consumption will be compared with phytoplankton production and fecal matter production will be related to particulate organic carbon and nitrogen fluxes to establish what percentage of the photosynthetically fixed carbon is ingested and potentially exported to deeper zones. This project will provide critical information necessary to quantify the flow of carbon and nitrogen in the upper layers of the central equatorial Pacific.