Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C507353/1
What role do zooplankton play in iron cycling in the ocean?
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr S Fielding, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Marine
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Ocean - Atmosphere Interact.
- Biogeochemical Cycles
- Climate & Climate Change
- Abstract:
- Changes in the supply of iron to oceanic phytoplankton are thought to alter rates of carbon sequestration and thus significantly effect concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This has led to a number of artificial-iron-fertilisation experiments in high nutrient low chlorophyll regions (the Southern Ocean and equatorial Pacific) that have generated phytoplankton blooms. These blooms persisted in time beyond expectation. The mechanism through which the added iron was recycled within the surface waters, maintaining these algal blooms, was undetermined. The central aim of this proposal is to investigate the zooplankton mediated recycling or removal of iron from high nutrient low chlorophyll and iron-fertilised waters, within and outside of the naturally iron-fertilised Crozet Plateau in the Southern Ocean. It will examine the carbon:nitrogen:iron ratio of zooplankton, their food and their fecal pellets. Combined with stoichiometric models, that determine the elemental requirements of zooplankton, it will examine the quantities of these elements that are assimilated (and therefore recycled in surface waters) and egested (repackaged into fecal pellets and subject to export from surface waters), with the purpose of investigating the two hypotheses: (1) Low iron in phytoplankton leads to iron-limitation of zooplankton. (2) In the event that iron does not limit zooplankton (the anticipated outcome), 'excess' iron is sequestered in fecal pellets, providing an export route for iron from the surface mixed layer. This study will therefore significantly advance our understanding of the role zooplankton play in the biogeochemical cycling of elements in the surface waters of the ocean.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C507353/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- New Investigators Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- New Investigators
This grant award has a total value of £50,991
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2,565 | £26,880 | £9,182 | £12,365 |
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