Mulaama, Edward D.M.

Environmental Network of Africa (ENVIRONET), P.O. Box R/Ngala-8703, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel. 254-722-674-806, E-mail: mulaama_environet@yahoo.com

Zooplankton community structure: A case study of the East African coastal waters

Zooplankton community structure varies with time of the day and is influenced by various factors. This paper examines how the cycling of carbon within the ocean and its transport from the surface to the deep sea is governed by physical pump and biological pump. Zooplankton play a vital role in the uptake of carbon and its export to the surface of the ocean. In the absence of zooplankton, the paper argues, CO₂ levels would drop to insignificant levels. The paper examines the factors that affect the strength of the biological pump and finds that it is influenced by factors such as the availability of iron, nutrients, nitrogen and the structure of the ecosystem.

The author analyses the fluxes and the net primary productivity within the deep sea ocean fluxes and asserts that biological response to surface forcing and the export and regeneration of particulate organic carbon follow global constraints caused by benthic fluxes and sedimental traps. The paper argues that a strong upwelling can cause heavy mortality among zooplankton. The author argues that particle export and decomposition are critical processes in the carbon cycle and that most of the decompositions of exported organic matter in the biological pump takes place within the upper layer of the ocean.

The paper analyses how anthropogenic factors are altering the nature and function of the continental shelves in the East African region through dumping of oil, chemicals, and wastes from ships and humans. The author concludes that efforts must be taken to reduce human activities in the oceans. This will strengthen the ability of the continental shelves to take up atmospheric CO₂ into the ocean margins and active cross shelf export of carbon in the continental shelves of the Eastern African Coastal waters.