Abstract
The fate of DMSP produced by phytoplankton cultures incubated with and without copepods of the species Eurytemora affinis was monitored to investigate the influence of zooplankton grazing activity on the release of dissolved DMSP and DMS. Processes related to the flux of DMSP through (sloppy) feeding, gut passage, fecal pellet formation and fecal pellet stability were studied. It appeared that with the phytoplankton species used (Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira weissflogii) no increase in DMS formation was detected during grazing but the release of dissolved DMSP increased slightly. Depending on the phytoplankton species, minor or no loss in DMSP was observed during passage trough the copepod guts. Almost all DMSP ingested leaves the copepods in the form of fecal pellets, a possible sink for DMSP. Based on the experimental results the relative importance of the zooplankton related removal of DMSP was quantified and found to be minor with respect to DMS and DMSP production by phytoplankton. The main effect of the zooplankton grazing activity was the repackaging of DMSP present in phytoplankton cells into fecal pellets.
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