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Title
  • en Latitudinal Differences in the Planktonic Biomass and Community Structure Down to the Greater Depths in the Western North Pacific
Creator
    • en Watanabe, Yuji
    • en Ishida, Hiroshi
    • en Harimoto, Takashi
    • en Furusawa, Kazushi
    • en Suzuki, Shinya
    • en Ishizaka, Joji
    • en Mac Takahashi, Masayuki
Accessrights open access
Rights
  • en The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10872-004-5770-1.
Subject
  • Other en Plankton
  • Other en community structure
  • Other en vertical distribution
  • Other en mesopelagic
  • Other en bethypelagic
  • Other en abyssopelagic
  • Other en biological pump
  • Other ja biogeochemical　cycle
  • NDC 660
Description
  • Abstract en As part of the research program WEST-COSMIC Phase I (1997–2001), vertical profiles down to the greater depths (0–2000 m or 5800 m) of the plankton community structure composed of heterotrophic bacteria, phytoplankton, protozooplankton and metazooplankton were studied at one station in each subarctic (44°N) and in transitional region (39°N), and two stations in subtropical region (30°N and 25°N); all in 137–155°E in the western North Pacific Ocean. The biomass of all four taxonomic groups decreased rapidly with increasing depths at all stations, although the magnitude of depth-related decrease differed among the groups. As plankton community structure, metazooplankton biomass and bacterial biomass occupied >50% of the total in 0–2000 and 2000–4000 or 5000 m strata, respectively, at subarctic and transitional stations, while bacterial biomass contributed to >50% of the total consistently from 0 through 4800 or 5800 m at subtropical stations. Metazooplankton biomass integrated over the greater depths exhibited a clear latitudinal pattern (high north and low south), but this was not the case for those of the other taxonomic groups. As a component of metazooplankton, an appreciable contribution of diapausing copepods to the metazooplankton was noted at subarctic and transitional stations, but they were few or nil at subtropical stations. As protozooplankton assemblages, heterotrophic microflagellates (HMF) and dinoflagellates were two major components at subarctic and transitional stations, but were only HMF predominated at subtropical stations. From biomass ratios between heterotrophic bacteria, HMF and dinoflagellates, “sinking POC-DOC-heterotrophic bacteria-HMF-heterotrophic dinoflagellates” link was proposed as a microbial food chain operative in the deep layer of the western North Pacific. All results are discussed in the light of latitudinal differences in the structure and functioning of plankton community contributing to the ‘biological pump’ in the western North Pacific Ocean.
Publisher en Oceanographic Society of Japan
Date
    Issued2004
Language
  • eng
Resource Type journal article
Version Type AM
Identifier HDL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/60645
Relation
  • isVersionOf DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-004-5770-1
Journal
    • PISSN 0916-8370
    • EISSN 1573-868X
    • NCID AA10833529
      • en Journal of Oceanography
      • Volume Number60 Issue Number4 Page Start773 Page End787
File
Oaidate 2023-07-26