What is it about?
Our study provides a numerical mean to improve estimates of carbon fluxes between water column and seabed by linking benthic animals to their food resources (organic matter) in a dynamic way.
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Why is it important?
Processes for input, transport, and preservation of organic carbon (OC) in seabed surface sediments are pivotal in both regional and global carbon cycles. Among all involved processes, bioturbation by medium- to large-size (body size >0.5 mm) benthic animals is most important for transport of organic carbon in seabed sediments. So far, no quantitative link between vertical distributions of benthic animals and organic carbon has been established.
Perspectives
Our study provides a numerical mean to improve estimates of carbon fluxes between water column and seabed, and better resolve the fate of carbon in marine sediments.
Wenyan Zhang
Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Mutual Dependence Between Sedimentary Organic Carbon and Infaunal Macrobenthos Resolved by Mechanistic Modeling, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, October 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/2017jg003909.
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