Image: Cycling of nutrients by an individual krill.webp

Description: Cycling of nutrients by an individual krill. When krill moult they release dissolved calcium, fluoride and phosphorous from the exoskeleton (1). The chitin (organic material) that forms the exoskeleton contributes to organic particle flux sinking to the deep ocean. Krill respire a portion of the energy derived from consuming phytoplankton or other animals as carbon dioxide (2), when swimming from mid/deep waters to the surface in large swarms krill mix water, which potentially brings nutrients to nutrient-poor surface waters (3), ammonium and phosphate is released from the gills and when excreting, along with dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen (e.g., urea) and phosphorous (DOC, DON and DOP, 2 & 4). Krill release fast-sinking faecal pellets containing particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous (POC, PON and POP) and iron, the latter of which is bioavailable when leached into surrounding waters along with DOC, DON and DOP (5)
Author: E.L. Cavan, A. Belcher, A. Atkinson, S. L. Hill, S. Kawaguchi, S. McCormack, B. Meyer, S. Nicol, L. Ratnarajah, K. Schmidt, D. K. Steinberg, G. A. Tarling & P. W. Boyd
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License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
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