Whale‑driven nutrient transport in marine ecosystems
Published in Earth & Environment and Sustainability
Call for papers: An exciting research topic that covers a range of disciplines - how do whales contribute to ocean fertilisation and how is this relevant for carbon sequestration?
Whales are increasingly recognised not merely as apex consumers, but as ecosystem engineers whose behaviour, biomass, and lifecycles drive nutrient redistribution across vast spatial scales.Through feeding at depth and defecating at the surface, whales fuel primary productivity via the whale pump, redistributing nitrogen, iron, and other limiting nutrients in both coastal and pelagic systems.Their long migrations transfer nutrients across biomes—from high‑latitude feeding grounds to low‑latitude breeding areas—forming a transoceanic whale conveyor belt of biogeochemical connectivity.
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Scientific Reports
An open access journal publishing original research from across all areas of the natural sciences, psychology, medicine and engineering.
