Weekend #Plankton #Factoid 🦐🦠 In marine systems where high nutrients lead to #hypoxia (low oxygen), it is commonly thought animals must avoid these zones - wrongly. Many types of #zooplankton seek refuge from predation in low oxygen layers in lakes and oceans. This is quite relevant to the #carbon pump off Peru because mesopelagic zooplankton, including Euphausiid #krill can graze on algae sinking in these zones, and produce rapidly sinking fecal pellets. #Climate 📖 https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-01140-6
Grazing of sinking particles by hypoxia-tolerant zooplankton likely reduces biological carbon pump efficiency in the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Peru, suggest analysis of drifting sediment trap samples and in situ imaging observations.
