Nature Communications (Feb 2023)

Salp blooms drive strong increases in passive carbon export in the Southern Ocean

  • Moira Décima,
  • Michael R. Stukel,
  • Scott D. Nodder,
  • Andrés Gutiérrez-Rodríguez,
  • Karen E. Selph,
  • Adriana Lopes dos Santos,
  • Karl Safi,
  • Thomas B. Kelly,
  • Fenella Deans,
  • Sergio E. Morales,
  • Federico Baltar,
  • Mikel Latasa,
  • Maxim Y. Gorbunov,
  • Matt Pinkerton

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35204-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

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Gelatinous bloom-forming zooplankton—salps—alter microbial communities and quintuple the flux of sinking particles from the surface to the deep, strongly enhancing the ability of the ocean to sequester CO2.