POSTER SESSION 1
15:30–17:30, Monday, September 14
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
ABSTRACT 1162 | POSTER 157
REMOTE SENSING OF ASTAXANTHIN-RICH ZOOPLANKTON: CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Zooplankton are an important component of marine ecosystems, serving as a critical food web link between smaller primary producers and larger mammals and fish, and contributing significantly to the ocean’s carbon cycle. They are also sensitive indicators of ecosystem change. Thus, large scale observations are critical for addressing questions related to marine ecosystem patterns, processes and function, and the Earth System as a whole. Here we present recent work demonstrating large surface swarms of astaxanthin-rich zooplankton can be detected by ocean colour satellites. Our work focuses on the Gulf of Maine, a region where the copepod Calanus finmarchicus is a keystone species. The approach currently quantifies Calanus finmarchicus abundance by leveraging the effect their red pigment, astaxanthin, has on ocean colour. However, astaxanthin is present in many zooplankton species and can vary seasonally as well as ontogenetically, confounding the estimation of Calanus finmarchicus abundance. Thus, we are developing methods to quantify the abundance of all astaxanthin-rich zooplankton in terms of astaxanthin concentration (analogous to the approach for detecting phytoplankton via their green, chlorophyll-a pigment). We are exploring the relationship of zooplankton community composition, abundance and biomass, with astaxanthin concentration and ocean colour. We will present this data, with an eye towards laying the foundation for a satellite product that would focus on the detection of astaxanthin in all surface-dwelling zooplankton, rather than a single species, with astaxanthin acting as a proxy for the presence of zooplankton biomass.
Catherine Mitchell, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9932-3050
Rebekah Shunmugapandi, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram (IISER TVM), [email protected]
Farley Miller, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, [email protected]
Karen Stamieszkin, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, [email protected]
David McKee, University of Strathclyde, [email protected]
Cait McCarry, University of Strathclyde, [email protected]
Poster Session | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Schedule at a Glance
