Analysis of variability in zooplankton metabolism and morphology for biogeochemical modeling

Zooplankton respiration plays a crucial role in marine biogeochemical cycling, and its relationship to organismal dry mass has long been described by allometric models. These models, which predict physiological processes based on mass, temperature, and broad taxonomic assignment, have been the foundation in simplifying complex ecosystem functions. There has recently been an expansion in the use of image-based sampling techniques, and to use these datasets for physiological estimates requires a conversion between observed biovolume and the historically more commonly measured biomass measurements, as well as a further exploration of the variability in metabolic rate among regions. The objective of this project is to analyze a suite of physiological, environmental, biovolume and biomass datasets from six distinct oceanic biomes. By comparing observed rates with the calculated values generated with current allometric models, we identified key factors that drive deviations from expected patterns. Our results suggest that regional differences play a significant and unaccounted for role in influencing zooplankton respiration. This highlights the importance of incorporating seasonal and regional variability to improve predictions of zooplankton metabolism and carbon cycling in marine ecosystems. In contrast, although biovolume to biomass relationships have some regional variability, simplified models are possible and our data provides confidence intervals for a global versus regional parameterization.

Presentation Preference: Poster

Primary Presenter: Sem Docekal, Arizona State University (sdocekal@asu.edu)

Authors:

Sem Docekal, Arizona State University  (sdocekal@asu.edu)

Hannah Gossner, University of New Hampshire  (Hannah.Gossner@unh.edu)

Amy Maas, Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences  (Amy.maas@asu.edu)