Importance of copepods versus appendicularians in vertical carbon fluxes in a Swedish fjord

Abstract

We examined and quantified the contributions of copepods and appendicularians to the vertical flux of carbon during autumn and spring in Gullmar Fjord (west coast of Sweden). Faecal pellet-production rate was determined for major copepod and appendicularian species. In addition, house-production rates were estimated for the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica. Vertical flux of pigments, faecal carbon and appendicularian houses were measured using short-term (24 h) deployments of sediment traps at 2 depths (15 and 30 m). Copepods dominated the community biomass in both spring and autumn and their pellets dominated the faecal carbon flux. O. dioica houses with attached detritus were an important component of the biogenic carbon flux in October (15.3 mg C m-2d-1), equalling the contribution from copepods at 15 m and 50% of the flux at 30 m. At that time, we observed a loss rate of 70% d-1 of the houses produced in the water column. In the spring, although Fritillaria borealis dominated the appendicularians, its houses did not appear to contribute to the biogenic flux. Our results suggest that oikopleurids and fritillariids may not operate equivalently in biogeochemical cycles. Because of the significant contribution of appendicularians to carbon fluxes, they should be incorporated in future flow models of coastal oceans.