Abstract
Finding prey is essential to survival, with marine predators hypothesised to track chemicals such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) while foraging. Many predators are attracted to artificially released DMS, and laboratory experiments have shown that zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton accelerates DMS release. However, whether natural DMS concentrations are useful for predators and correlated to areas of high prey biomass remains a fundamental knowledge gap. Here, we used concurrent hydroacoustic surveys and in situ DMS measurements to present evidence that zooplankton biomass is spatially correlated to natural DMS concentration in air and seawater. Using agent simulations, we also show that following gradients of DMS would lead zooplankton predators to areas of higher prey biomass than swimming randomly. Further understanding of the conditions and scales over which these gradients occur, and how they are used by predators, is essential to predicting the impact of future changes in the ocean on predator foraging success.
Highlights
Finding prey is essential to survival, with marine predators hypothesised to track chemicals such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) while foraging
We found that zooplankton biomass and DMS concentrations in air and seawater are correlated and that smooth gradients of DMS exist at fine spatial scales that would lead zooplankton predators to areas of higher prey biomass in the ocean
We show that a correlation between zooplankton biomass and the concentration of DMS in air and seawater occurs in the ocean
Summary
Finding prey is essential to survival, with marine predators hypothesised to track chemicals such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) while foraging. Grazing by microzooplankton has been shown to play a large role in DMS concentration in surface waters in some regions[11] These species are too small to be prey for many large predators such as marine mammals, seabirds, and turtles that have been the centre of most behavioural research on the role of DMS in foraging. Many marine predators, such as fish[15], turtles[16], marine mammals[17] and seabirds[1,18] have been shown to be attracted to artificially released DMS This has led to the theory that zooplankton predators use this chemical to locate prey[1] and the hypothesis that the attraction of predators to areas of DMS concentration may be the link between the sulfur, carbon and iron cycles in high latitude oceans[19]. We found that zooplankton biomass and DMS concentrations in air and seawater are correlated and that smooth gradients of DMS exist at fine spatial scales that would lead zooplankton predators to areas of higher prey biomass in the ocean
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