Zooplankton fecal pellet flux and carbon export: The South China Sea record and its global comparison

Abstract

Zooplankton fecal pellets constitute a major component of passively sinking particles in the ocean. The sinking of zooplankton fecal pellets provides an efficient vehicle for the transfer and sequestration of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the deep sea, which has been widely reported in different regions. However, most existing studies focus on the sinking flux of fecal pellets within the upper ocean, while lower mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones are rarely investigated. Here, we report the spatiotemporal flux variation of zooplankton fecal pellets collected by two sediment traps deployed in mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones (500 m and 2190 m, respectively) of the South China Sea from June 2020 to May 2022, and compare it with deep-sea (>500 m) fecal pellet flux data reported in the global ocean. In the South China Sea, fecal pellet fluxes display distinct seasonal patterns due to the control of the East Asian monsoon system, with higher fluxes in winter and spring, and lower fluxes in summer and autumn. Small fecal pellets (width < 100 μm) dominate the overall pellet numerical flux (more than 98 %), while rare large pellets (width > 100 μm) account for averaging 20 % of fecal pellet carbon flux. Both large and small pellet fluxes appear to be higher at 2190 m, mainly due to the in-situ reworking and repackaging of deep-dwelling zooplankton communities, as well as the input of lateral advection from high productive continental coasts and shelves. Identifiable zooplankton fecal pellets constitute approximately 10 % to the total POC flux in the deep South China Sea. Comparing the eutrophic polar and upwelling regions with mesotrophic and oligotrophic regions, we find a good correlation between marine primary production and fecal pellet carbon export. On the global scale, carbon fluxes through zooplankton fecal pellets to the deep sea are mainly constrained by the grazing impacts of zooplanktons, influenced by temperature, zooplankton biomass, and zooplankton size spectrum.