User:Hetmann/Main Project Idea

More information forthcoming! - Lots of articles to peruse and summarize below ...

Description

Salps are tunicates, large planktonic organisms that have the fastest growth rates of any multicellular organism. Thalia democratica seems to be the most common of the Salps.

Salps are useful because the fecal pellets of the salps sink quickly, and it is proposed that the salps are responsible for much of the carbon sequestering that is currently occuring. Furthermore these organisms may assist in sequestering even more carbon dioxide produced from the burning of fossil fuels.

There are conflicting reports based on the fecal pellets of the salps:

• One contention is that the fecal pellets contributes materials in the ocean, and provide food for bathypelagic and benthic organisms.
• The more widespread notion is that the fecal pellets are not directly consumed, and are in essence a dead-end for carbon.
  • One support for this argument is the rate at which the pellet sink, which range from 320 to 2 238 meters/day.
  • Hypothesized that the fecal pellets disintegrate at the bottom of the ocean.

Possible Utilization

Is is reported [1] that one group , Atmocean Inc., wants to utilize pipes that transport nutrient rich water from the deep ocean to the surface in order to increase growth in phytoplankton, the food source of the salps. In their presentation at the Electric Utility Environmental Conference, Atmocean claims that some biologists estimate a 5-fold increase in biomass due to the upwelling (but they don't list sources). Furthermore, the company believes that utilizing salps will potentially sequester 29% of current carbon emission (additionally proposing that this project may cost 1-1.6 trillion dollars over 10 years).

Other possible methods to utilize salps forthcoming (help from others in the class?).

Sources

Huskin et al.

Total salp abundance ranged from 4 to 4500 ind ^m−2, representing biomass values between 0.2 and 2750 mg C m⁻²

L. P. Madin1 et al.

Sinking velocities of the salps fecal pellets are very high ranged from 320 to 2 238 m d-1.

M. W. Silver1 and K. W. Bruland1

One hypothesis from this article is that salps fecal pellets disintegrate in deep water (in the portion of the ocean that is not exposed to sunlight).

[2]

Improving Reproduction [3]

Feeding process [4]

Additional research:

Seasonal abundance & distribution in S. China Sea [5]

Species composition and abundance distribution in the Nanwan Bay of Taiwan, China (this article has not been located) [6]

[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16], [17], [18]