Meso-zooplankton structure and functioning in the western tropical South Pacific along the 20th parallel south during the OUTPACE survey (February–April 2015)

Abstract

Abstract. The western tropical South Pacific (WTSP) is one of the most understudied oceanic regions in terms of the planktonic food web, despite supporting some of the largest tuna fisheries in the world. In this stratified oligotrophic ocean, nitrogen fixation may play an important role in supporting the plankton food web and higher trophic level production. In the austral summer (February–April) of 2015, the OUTPACE (Oligotrophy to UlTra-oligotrophy PACific Experiment) project conducted a comprehensive survey of 4000 km along 20∘ S, from New Caledonia to Tahiti, to determine the role of N2 fixation on biogeochemical cycles and food web structure in this region. Here, we characterize the zooplankton community and plankton food web processes at 15 short-duration stations (8 h each) to describe the large-scale variability across trophic gradients from oligotrophic waters around Melanesian archipelagoes (MAs) to ultra-oligotrophic waters of the South Pacific gyre (GY). Three long-duration stations (5 days each) enabled a more detailed analysis of processes and were positioned (1) in offshore northern waters of New Caledonia (MA), (2) near Niue Island (MA), and (3) in the subtropical Pacific gyre (GY) near the Cook Islands. At all stations, meso-zooplankton was sampled with a bongo net with 120 µm mesh size to estimate abundance, biomass, community taxonomy and size structure, and size fractionated δ15N. Subsequently, we estimated zooplankton carbon demand, grazing impact, excretion rates, and the contribution of diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) to zooplankton biomass. The meso-zooplankton community showed a general decreasing trend in abundance and biomass from west to east, with a clear drop in the GY waters. Higher abundance and biomass corresponded to higher primary production associated with complex mesoscale circulation in the Coral Sea and between 170–180∘ W. The taxonomic structure showed a high degree of similarity in terms of species richness and abundance distribution across the whole region, with, however, a moderate difference in the GY region, where the copepod contribution to meso-zooplankton increased. The calculated ingestion and metabolic rates allowed us to estimate that the top–down (grazing) and bottom–up (excretion of nitrogen and phosphorous) impact of zooplankton on phytoplankton was potentially high. Daily grazing pressure on phytoplankton stocks was estimated to remove 19 % to 184 % of the total daily primary production and 1.5 % to 22 % of fixed N2. The top–down impact of meso-zooplankton was higher in the eastern part of the transect, including GY, than in the Coral Sea region and was mainly exerted on nano- and micro-phytoplankton. The regeneration of nutrients by zooplankton excretion was high, suggesting a strong contribution to regenerated production, particularly in terms of N. Daily NH4+ excretion accounted for 14.5 % to 165 % of phytoplankton needs for N, whereas PO43- excretion accounted for only 2.8 % to 34 % of P needs. From zooplankton δ15N values, we estimated that the DDN contributed to up to 67 % and 75 % to the zooplankton biomass in the western and central parts of the MA regions, respectively, but strongly decreased to an average of 22 % in the GY region and down to 7 % in the easternmost station. Thus, the highest contribution of diazotrophic microorganisms to zooplankton biomass occurred in the region of highest N2 fixation rates and when Trichodesmium dominated the diazotrophs community (MA waters). Our estimations of the fluxes associated with zooplankton were highly variable between stations and zones but very high in most cases compared to literature data, partially due to the high contribution of small forms. The highest values encountered were found at the boundary between the oligotrophic (MA) and ultra-oligotrophic regions (GY). Within the MA zone, the high variability of the top–down and bottom–up impact was related to the high mesoscale activity in the physical environment. Estimated zooplankton respiration rates relative to primary production were among the highest cited values at similar latitudes, inducing a high contribution of migrant zooplankton respiration to carbon flux. Despite the relatively low biomass values of planktonic components in quasi-steady state, the availability of micro- and macronutrients related to physical mesoscale patterns in the waters surrounding the MA, the fueling by DDN, and the relatively high rates of plankton production and metabolism estimated during OUTPACE may explain the productive food chain ending with valuable fisheries in this region.