Jhe Role of Mesozooplankton in the Biological Pump of the Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean

该项目是美国将于1992年在中赤道太平洋进行的全球海洋通量联合研究的一部分。后生浮游动物已被确定为最有可能导致颗粒转化和随后将有机质输出到更深海洋层的介质。因此，了解生物泵的功能和评估效率，即中上层群落生物材料生产和消费平衡所产生的碳和氮向下的通量，需要了解浮游动物消耗和转化悬浮颗粒的速率。该项目将详细审查后生浮游动物在中赤道太平洋生物泵中的作用。将使用尖端技术评估上层200米中浮游动物生物量、放牧率和排泄物生产率的变异性。具体大小和基于群落的浮游植物消耗率将与浮游植物生产量和粪便生产量进行比较，粪便生产量将与颗粒有机碳和氮通量相关，以确定光合作用固定碳被摄取并可能输出到更深层的百分比。该项目将提供必要的重要信息，以量化中赤道太平洋上层的碳和氮流动。

This project constitutes a part of the United States Joint Global Ocean Flux Study to be conducted in the Central Equatorial Pacific in 1992. Metazoan zooplankton have been identified 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 flux 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.