Unveiling Zooplankton: Guardians of Our Oceans’ Carbon Secrets

Zooplankton represent one of the most varied and plentiful collections of organisms on the planet, and they are crucial to the marine food web. Unlike phytoplankton, which can photosynthesize, zooplankton rely on consuming phytoplankton, establishing a connection in the food web between primary producers and larger creatures such as fish.

Moreover, zooplankton sequestrate carbon from the atmosphere. When these creatures excrete it, for instance, it may descend into the deep ocean, effectively transporting carbon and sequestering it. If it weren’t for this biological carbon pump, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide would be roughly 50 percent greater than they currently are. However, as our oceans heat up, this zooplankton ecosystem is evolving, becoming diminutive and less nourishing. This pattern threatens global food stability, with more than a third of the world’s population depending on fish as a protein source.

BIO-Carbon is an initiative financed by the UK government’s UK Research and Innovation division that aims to comprehend how much carbon zooplankton intake, its destination, and how the interaction between zooplankton and phytoplankton varies with the seasons, thereby affecting the carbon flux in the deep ocean. Enhanced insight into this process and how it may adapt to our changing climate could inform climate simulations and assist us in taking proactive measures to alleviate the effects of global warming on the marine carbon cycle and food networks.