CAREER: Omnivory and the Fate of Ingested Food in Zooplankton: Implications for Material Fluxes in the Oceans

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9521907 Dam A key problem in oceanographic is understanding the factors that effect changes in fluxes of carbon and nitrogen from surface waters to the deep ocean. It has been recognized that planktonic organisms play an important role in the downward flux of carbon and nitrogen Zooplankton, through their ingestion and subsequent egestion of phytoplankton and protozoa biomass, are important agents of export production in the ocean. Although rapidly sinking zooplankton decal pellets have been identified as one of the main mechanisms responsible for downward fluxes of organic, our knowledge in this area remains extremely fragmentary. This research centers on the transformation by zooplankton of phytoplankton and protozoa biomass and its subsequent export in the form of fecal pellets, plus the role of zooplankton vertical migration and phytoplankton aggregates in downward fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in the ocean. ***