Robison Bruce H, Reisenbichler Kim R, Sherlock Rob E
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA.
Science. 2005 Jun 10;308(5728):1609-11. doi: 10.1126/science.1109104.
An unresolved issue in ocean science is the discrepancy between the food requirements of the animals living on the deep sea floor and their food supply, as measured by sediment traps. A 10-year time-series study of the water column off Monterey Bay, California, revealed that the discarded mucus feeding structures of giant larvaceans carry a substantial portion of the upper ocean's productivity to the deep seabed. These abundant, rapidly sinking, carbon-rich vectors are not detected by conventional sampling methods and thus have not been included in calculations of vertical nutrient flux or in oceanic carbon budgets.
海洋科学中一个尚未解决的问题是，生活在深海海底的动物的食物需求与其食物供应之间存在差异，这种差异是通过沉积物捕集器测量得出的。一项对加利福尼亚州蒙特雷湾外水柱进行的为期10年的时间序列研究表明，巨型幼形海鞘丢弃的黏液进食结构将上层海洋生产力的很大一部分输送到了深海海底。这些丰富、快速下沉且富含碳的载体无法通过传统采样方法检测到，因此未被纳入垂直营养通量计算或海洋碳预算中。
