Zooplankton Variability and Particulate Fluxes at Station ALOHA: A Contribution to the Hawaii Ocean Time-Series (HOT)Program

该项目的总体目标是通过在夏威夷海洋时间序列(HOT)方案中增加浮游动物采样部分，促进对海洋副热带太平洋生物地球化学通量随时间变化的了解。该方案头三年的沉积物捕集数据揭示了出口通量的季节和年际模式，这不能用初级生产力的同时变化来充分解释。由于大型浮游动物和微型浮游动物因其产生大量快速下沉的粪便残留物和活跃的垂直迁移而参与从地表水输出有机物质，我们建议利用这个机会检验这样一个假设，即观测到的沉积物捕获器通量的季节和年际变化与浮游动物的出现模式有关。研究计划将包括：(1)通过对不同大小的净采集物的干重、碳和氮的分析，确定浮游动物的群落生物量结构；(2)通过白天和夜间渔获量的比较估计迁徙和非迁徙浮游动物的相对大小；(3)从大宗肠道荧光分析评估浮游动物作为初级生产者直接消费者的作用的相对变化；以及(4)从显微镜分析估计浮游动物粪便物质对出口通量的直接贡献的模式。

The general objective of this project is to contribute to the understanding of time-varying biogeochemical fluxes in the oceanic subtropical Pacific by adding a zooplankton sampling component to the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) Program. The first three years of sediment trap data from this Program have revealed seasonal and interannual patterns in export fluxes that cannot be adequately explained by concurrent variations in primary productivity. Since large zooplankton and micronekton are implicated in the export of organic material from surface waters by virtue of their production of large, rapidly sinking fecal debris and active vertical migrations, we propose to use this opportunity to test the hypothesis that observed seasonal and interannual variability in sediment trap flux are related to patterns in the occurrence of zooplankton. The research program will include: (1) determining the community biomass structure of zooplankton from dry weights, carbon, and nitrogen analyses of size-fractionated net collections; (2) estimating the relative magnitudes of migrating and nonmigrating zooplankton from comparison of day- and night-time catches: (3) assessing relative changes in the role of zooplankton as direct consumers of primary producers from bulk gut fluorescence analyses; and (4) estimating, from microscopical analyses, patterns in the direct contribution of zooplankton fecal material to export flux.