CLIMATE CONTROL BY SPERM WHALES? - Effect of sperm whale

1,77

MB

consumption on biological pump

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stron

4875

ID

Leiden University, Centre of Environmental Science, The Netherlands

2003

rok

PROLOGUE 3

SUMMARY. 4

SAMENVATTING 5

1 INTRODUCTION 6

2 SPERM WHALE BIOLOGY. 8

2.1 SIZE AND WEIGHT 8

2.2 PRIMARY HABITAT AND DIET 8

2.3 SOCIAL ORGANISATION, DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION 9

3 ESTIMATE OF CONSUMPTION BY GLOBAL SPERM WHALE POPULATION 11

3.1 METHODS FOR ESTIMATING GLOBAL SPERM WHALE POPULATION. 11

3.1.1 Catch-per-unit-effort (cpue) methods . 11

3.1.2 Age-specific/length-specific techniques 12

3.1.3 Mark-recapture techniques 12

3.2 WHITEHEAD’S METHOD FOR ESTIMATING GLOBAL SPERM WHALE POPULATION 13

3.3 ESTIMATING FEEDING RATES PER SPERM WHALE . 15

3.4 ESTIMATE OF BIOMASS REMOVAL BY SPERM WHALES 18

4 ROLE OF THE OCEANS ON THE UPTAKE OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 19

4.1 CO2UPTAKE AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF DISSOLVED INORGANIC CARBON (DIC). 19

4.2 DIC PUMPS. 20

4.2.1 The solubility (physical) pump . 21

4.2.2 The carbonate pump 22

4.2.3 The soft-tissue pump 23

4.3 EFFECTS OF THE BIOLOGICAL PUMP. 25

4.4 EFFECTS OF RISING ATMOSPHERIC CO2-LEVELS ON CO2-UPTAKE CAPACITY BY THE

OCEANS. 26

4.4.1 Physical and chemical processes 26

4.4.2 Biologically-linked processes. 27

4.4.2.1 Increase in phytoplankton growth rate .27

4.4.2.2 Shift in elementary composition 27

4.4.2.3 Decrease in calcification rate.27

4.4.3 Overall impact of rising CO2-levels on oceanic CO2 uptake 28

4.5 IMPACT OF PLANKTON ON CLIMATE: A CASE STUDY. 28

4.6 ESTIMATES OF PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY 29

5 EFFECT OF SPERM WHALES ON ATMOSPHERIC CO2 LEVELS 30

5.1 TROPHIC LEVEL OF THE SPERM WHALE 30

5.2 EFFECT OF SPERM WHALE’S EXISTENCE ON NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY. 32

5.3 EFFECTS OF SPERM WHALES ON OCEANIC CARBON CYCLE 33

6 CONCLUSION 36

7 DISCUSSION. 37

CITED LITERATURE 39

EPILOGUE . 43

APPENDIX.. 44