Size as the master trait in modeled copepod fecal pellet carbon flux

Abstract

Zooplankton fecal pellet flux is a highly variable component of the biological carbon pump. While fecal pellets can comprise 0 to nearly 100% of particulate organic carbon collected in sediment traps, mechanisms for this variability remain poorly understood. Fecal pellet carbon flux is a complex function of several variables. We present a model that incorporates individual‐scale metabolic processes to determine fecal pellet production rate, the relationship between body size and fecal pellet size, the relationship between fecal pellet size and sinking rate, and a function representing the breakdown of particles in the water column. When applied to copepod communities sampled by the continuous plankton recorder in the Gulf of Maine over 25 years, a seasonal pattern of fecal pellet carbon flux emerges. The interannual flux time series produced by the model reflects known oceanographic perturbations and shows how organism‐scale processes can be scaled up to explain ecosystem level variability. We conclude that fecal pellet carbon flux in the Gulf of Maine is driven by copepod community size structure and copepod abundance, and that the fraction of fecal pellet carbon that reaches depth is a function of copepod size, rather than abundance. Changes in the physical environment which alter the size composition of the copepod community lead to variability in fecal pellet carbon flux. Our results indicate that incorporating size composition into biogeochemical models can more accurately constrain zooplankton‐mediated carbon flux.

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