Marine snow morphology illuminates the evolution of phytoplankton blooms and determines their subsequent vertical export

Emilia Trudnowska (), Léo Lacour, Mathieu Ardyna, Andreas Rogge, Jean Olivier Irisson, Anya M. Waite, Marcel Babin and Lars Stemmann
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Emilia Trudnowska: Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences
Léo Lacour: Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (CNRS and Université Laval)
Mathieu Ardyna: Stanford University
Andreas Rogge: Institute for Ecosystem Research, Kiel University
Jean Olivier Irisson: Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, LOV
Anya M. Waite: Dalhousie University
Marcel Babin: Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (CNRS and Université Laval)
Lars Stemmann: Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, LOV

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The organic carbon produced in the ocean’s surface by phytoplankton is either passed through the food web or exported to the ocean interior as marine snow. The rate and efficiency of such vertical export strongly depend on the size, structure and shape of individual particles, but apart from size, other morphological properties are still not quantitatively monitored. With the growing number of in situ imaging technologies, there is now a great possibility to analyze the morphology of individual marine snow. Thus, automated methods for their classification are urgently needed. Consequently, here we present a simple, objective categorization method of marine snow into a few ecologically meaningful functional morphotypes using field data from successive phases of the Arctic phytoplankton bloom. The proposed approach is a promising tool for future studies aiming to integrate the diversity, composition and morphology of marine snow into our understanding of the biological carbon pump.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22994-4

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