Changing krill and salp fecal pellet carbon production in West Antarctica

Changing krill and salp fecal pellet carbon production in West Antarctica | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Changing krill and salp fecal pellet carbon production in West Antarctica Maya Thomas, Deborah Steinberg This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725528/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ocean carbon export modulates Earth’s rapidly changing climate1,2. Zooplankton play a key role in export through the production and sinking of fecal pellets3,4, yet climate-driven shifts in zooplankton abundance and species composition strongly alters this export pathway5,6. As one of the fastest warming places on Earth, the West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing changes in marine ecosystem structure as zooplankton species dominance is shifting from the keystone Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba)7–9 to gelatinous salps (Salpa thompsoni), with major implications for carbon export10,11. This study sought to determine if changes in Antarctic zooplankton composition affected carbon export by using an unprecedented 28-year zooplankton time series with 11 years of zooplankton fecal pellet production experiments. Here we show spatial, interannual, and multi-decadal patterns in krill- and salp-mediated fecal pellet production. We found previously undocumented ~5-year oscillations in krill fecal pellet production that is related to krill abundance, body size, and environmental conditions, and which alternated with peaks in salp fecal pellet production. Habitat preferences further drive significant differences, as krill favor colder, higher sea ice, southern Peninsula conditions and salps warmer, lower sea ice, northern conditions12,13. This interannual and spatial partitioning is consistent with ongoing climate warming expanding salp-favorable habitats and altering carbon export. Our results emphasize how rapid WAP warming10,11 will alter zooplankton-mediated fecal pellet carbon production and export in this productive yet vulnerable polar ecosystem. Biological sciences/Ecology/Biooceanography Biological sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology zooplankton biological carbon pump Southern Ocean Euphausia superba Salpa thompsoni Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8725528","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586261710,"identity":"d568a208-83ea-48ff-a60a-5f16b2839e86","order_by":0,"name":"Maya Thomas","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgY2MM3PwNgAoiEkfi3MEC2SDURrYYBqMTgA4RLWotvOf+zBxxw7e+Mbya0bfzDYyG44QECL2WFmdsOZ25ITt91IbLvNw5BmTIwWNmnebcwJZmcOtt1mYDicSKyWenvjnoNtN38w/Cday2HGDeyNbTd4GA4QpcVMcua244kzjjcC/WKQbDyToJbzB59JfNxWbc/fzP7s5o8KO9k+QlrQgAFpykfBKBgFo2AU4AAAlJlDmyr7InUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8525-5392","institution":"Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William \u0026 Mary","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maya","middleName":"","lastName":"Thomas","suffix":""},{"id":586261711,"identity":"de583f7e-45f0-42be-a509-f21c2b34c33f","order_by":1,"name":"Deborah Steinberg","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9884-4655","institution":"VIMS","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Deborah","middleName":"","lastName":"Steinberg","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-28 23:25:25","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725528/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725528/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102397730,"identity":"63f83c7a-ac2d-467c-bd84-0ed0675e6344","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-11 10:19:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2970702,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"NaturekrillsalpFPPfinal.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8725528/v1_covered_07ddc44d-2632-48d7-8c6b-23d2ad928720.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Changing krill and salp fecal pellet carbon production in West Antarctica","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"zooplankton, biological carbon pump, Southern Ocean, Euphausia superba, Salpa thompsoni","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725528/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725528/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Ocean carbon export modulates Earth’s rapidly changing climate1,2. Zooplankton play a key role in export through the production and sinking of fecal pellets3,4, yet climate-driven shifts in zooplankton abundance and species composition strongly alters this export pathway5,6. As one of the fastest warming places on Earth, the West Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing changes in marine ecosystem structure as zooplankton species dominance is shifting from the keystone Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba)7–9 to gelatinous salps (Salpa thompsoni), with major implications for carbon export10,11. This study sought to determine if changes in Antarctic zooplankton composition affected carbon export by using an unprecedented 28-year zooplankton time series with 11 years of zooplankton fecal pellet production experiments. Here we show spatial, interannual, and multi-decadal patterns in krill- and salp-mediated fecal pellet production. We found previously undocumented ~5-year oscillations in krill fecal pellet production that is related to krill abundance, body size, and environmental conditions, and which alternated with peaks in salp fecal pellet production. Habitat preferences further drive significant differences, as krill favor colder, higher sea ice, southern Peninsula conditions and salps warmer, lower sea ice, northern conditions12,13. This interannual and spatial partitioning is consistent with ongoing climate warming expanding salp-favorable habitats and altering carbon export. 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