TY - JOUR
T1 - The Mesopelagic Scattering Layer: A Hotspot for Heterotrophic Prokaryotes in the Red Sea Twilight Zone
AU - Calleja, Maria L.
AU - Ansari, Mohd Ikram
AU - Røstad, Anders
AU - Silva, Luis
AU - Kaartvedt, Stein
AU - Irigoien, Xabier
AU - Moran, Xose Anxelu G.
N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-04-23
Acknowledgements: This research was supported by King Abdullah University for Science and Technology through the baseline funding provided to XAGM. We gratefully acknowledge the crew of the workboat R.V. KAUST Explorer and all the personnel from the coastal and marine resources core lab (CMORE) for their diligent field-work assistance. M. Viegas (KAUST) aided with fieldwork and sample collection. L. Alonso-Sáez (AZTII) and T. Hueter-Stauffer (KAUST) aided with constructive comments.
PY - 2018/8/13
Y1 - 2018/8/13
N2 - The vast majority of marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the largest reservoir of reduced carbon on Earth, is believed to accumulate in the abyssal layers of the ocean over timescales of decades to millennia. However, evidence is growing that small animals that migrate vertically every day from the surface to mesopelagic layers are significantly contributing to the active vertical flux of organic matter. Whether that represents an important source of carbon available for microbial production and respiration at the mesopelagic realm, and its contribution to oceanic carbon budgets and energy flows, is yet to be explored. Here we present data suggesting that Red Sea migrating animals may produce an overlooked source of labile DOC (used at a mean rate of 2.1 μmol C L−1 d−1) that does not accumulate but fuels the metabolism in the twilight zone, generating a disregarded hotspot for heterotrophic prokaryotes.
AB - The vast majority of marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the largest reservoir of reduced carbon on Earth, is believed to accumulate in the abyssal layers of the ocean over timescales of decades to millennia. However, evidence is growing that small animals that migrate vertically every day from the surface to mesopelagic layers are significantly contributing to the active vertical flux of organic matter. Whether that represents an important source of carbon available for microbial production and respiration at the mesopelagic realm, and its contribution to oceanic carbon budgets and energy flows, is yet to be explored. Here we present data suggesting that Red Sea migrating animals may produce an overlooked source of labile DOC (used at a mean rate of 2.1 μmol C L−1 d−1) that does not accumulate but fuels the metabolism in the twilight zone, generating a disregarded hotspot for heterotrophic prokaryotes.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/628458
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00259/full
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052338754&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmars.2018.00259
DO - 10.3389/fmars.2018.00259
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052338754
SN - 2296-7745
VL - 5
JO - Frontiers in Marine Science
JF - Frontiers in Marine Science
IS - AUG
ER -