Turbulence and zooplankton production: insights from PROVESS

Zooplankton are directly influenced by turbulence in both a passive and an active manner. Passively, zooplankton are at the mercy of turbulence in how it affects their vertical mixing, encounter rate, detection abilities and feeding current efficiency. Many zooplankton species, however, are actively able to mitigate the effects of turbulence by modifying their behaviour, e.g. vertical migration, prey switching and habituation to hydromechanical stimuli. Both theoretical treatments of these processes and field observations from the northern North Sea are examined. Field observations show that some copepod species actively migrate to avoid high turbulence levels in surface waters. Furthermore, observations show a negative relationship between turbulence and zooplankton ingestion rates. This supports the paradigm of a dome-shaped response for zooplankton production with environmental turbulence. A theoretical treatment shows that the reaction distance, R, for an ambush-feeding copepod feeding on swimming organisms follows R ∝ ^−1/6 where is the turbulent dissipation rate, a result that shows close agreement with previously reported experimental results.     

Phosphorus content of zooplankton from the Inland Sea of Japan

Measurements of phosphorus content were made for eleven species of copepods, two species of mysids, shrimps (including mysis stage) and chaetognaths, and one species ofNoctiluca, cirriped (naupliar stage) and crab (zoeal stage) from the Inland Sea of Japan. The body phosphorus content (P, inµg) is highly correlated to prosome length (L, inµm) for copepods, which is expressed as logP=2.90 ×logL–9.34. Mean phosphorus content expressed as percent of dry weight is 1.30% for copepods, 1.39% for mysids, 0.63% for a decapod shrimpAcetes japonicus, and 0.80% for chaetognaths.Noctiluca contains phosphorus of only 0.36%. The comparatively higher phosphorus content of suspension-feeding copepods may be related to the constant supply of phosphorus-rich phytoplankton in this region.     

Study of zooplankton ecology in Zhejiang coastal upwelling system-Species distribution and diversity of zooplankton

The species distribution and diversity of zooplankton and the effects of hydrodynamic factors of Zhejiang coastal waters during the active period of upwelling are discussed.High dominance (low diversity), high biomass and short food chain were found in the landward margins of the central region of the upwelling. There were evident interactions between the distribution of zooplankton and the environmental factors. The expression of these interactions is that different ecotypes of zooplankton adapt to different hydrological situations. There is significant positive correlation between the diversity indices of zooplankton and the mean water temperature in the survey area. It is noted that the vertical distribution of Calanus sinicus indicates to a certain extent the colder water environment of the upwelling (Fig. 7, Table 2, Reference (Hargreaves, 1981).     

Biomass,carbon ingestion,and ammonia excretion by zooplankton associated with an upwelling plume in western Cook Strait,New Zealand

The biomass, elemental composition, and rates of ingestion and excretion by macrozoo‐plankon associated with the upwelling plume off the north‐west coast of the South Island, New Zealand, were investigated in March‐April 1983. Ingestion and excretion rates of the major zoo‐plankton species were combined with abundance data to determine the spatial and temporal variability which may influence phytoplankton dynamics in the plume system. Zooplankton biomass near Cape Kahurangi was dominated by small copepods like Acartia ensifera (up to 60%). In the South Tar‐anaki Bight, larval and adult forms of the euphau‐siid Nyctiphanes australis commonly contributed up to 60% of biomass. However, the carbon ingestion and ammonia excretion patterns of N. australis were spatially displaced from those of the total zooplankton community in the South Taranaki Bight because of higher weight‐specific metabolic rates for the smaller copepods. Close to the focus of the upwelling near the Kahurangi Shoals, grazing pressure on the phytoplankton was high, but as the upwelled water was advected into the Taranaki Bight, carbon production exceeded utilisation by zooplankton. Relatively high rates of ammonia excretion were also associated with peak zooplankton biomass near the Kahurangi Shoals and in the eastern Taranaki Bight.     

Length-weight relationships of important zooplankton from the Inland Sea of Japan

Measurements of dry weight, carbon- and nitrogen contents together with the body length of important zooplankton from the Inland Sea of Japan were made using freshly caught specimens. The values of the former three parameters were found to be highly correlated to length, and species specific regression equations were calculated for 10 species of Copepoda (Calanus sinicus, Euchaeta plana, E. concinna, Centropages abdominalis, Sinocalanus tenellus, Acartia clausi, A. tsuensis, Tortanus forcipatus, Oithona brevicornis andO. similis), 3 species of Cladocera (Podon leuckarti, P. polyphemoides andPenilia avirostris), 1 species of each of Mysidacea (Neomysis japonica), and Natantia (Acetes japonicus), and two forms of Chaetognatha (Sagitta crassa andS. crassa f.naikaiensis).     

厦门三个重要养殖水域浮游动物的数量分布特征

本文主要研究2000年厦门3个重要养殖水域浮游动物的种类组成和数量分布特征,并就其与环境因子的关系进行了初步探讨.结果表明,在这3个重要养殖水域共记录到浮游动物102种及16种浮游幼虫,以近岸、河口低盐种类为主.种类数的季节分布与水温的季节变化一致浮游动物生物量、个体数量与叶绿素a含量、浮游植物细胞数呈显著的二次抛物线关系.受地理环境和海水盐度影响,浮游动物的分布具明显的差异,数量一般呈马銮湾>厦门西港>同安湾(含东咀港和浔江港).浮游动物数量季节分布呈现春季高,冬、夏季居中,秋季最低的特点,除受水温等因子影响外,也与养殖贝类的数量密切相关.     

Interactions of phytoplankton, zooplankton and microorganisms

We present evidence that there are significant interactions between heterotrophic microorganisms, doliolids and Fritillaria within intrusions of nutrient-rich Gulf Stream water stranding on the continental shelf. During the summer of 1981 cold, nutrient-rich water from below the surface of the Gulf Stream was repeatedly intruded and stranded on the continental shelf off northeastern Florida. On August 6 old, stranded Gulf Stream water depleted of nitrate occupied the lower layer on the outer shelf. The upper water was continental shelf water, older but of undefined age. On August 6 free-living bacteria were >10⁶ml⁻¹ everywhere at all depths, an order of magnitude greater than normal bacterial numbers on the northeastern Florida continental shelf. Over 10 days the numbers of free bacteria doubled while bacteria attached to particles increased by a factor of four. The adenylate/chlorophyll ratio showed that phytoplankton dominated the lower layers of intruded water, while the surface water became increasingly dominated by heterotrophic microorganisms (bacteria and protozoa) over 10 days. There were significant, negative correlations between bacteria and doliolids and between bacteria and Fritillaria. Regions of maximum bacterial numbers did not coincide with locations of salp swarms. The increased numbers of bacteria at all depths in a highly stratified system in which most phytoplankton are in the lower layer suggests a diverse source of bacterial growth substrates, some of which involve zooplankton as intermediaries. Production of autotrophs is more than twice that of microheterotrophs on average, but because of their differential distribution, microheterotrophs are the dominant biomass in much of the surface water and may be significant in energy flux to metazoan consumers as well as competitors for mutually useable sources of nutrition.     

The distribution and vertical flux of fecal pellets from large zooplankton in Monterey bay and coastal California

We sampled zooplankton and fecal pellets in the upper 200 m of Monterey Bay and nearby coastal regions in California, USA. On several occasions, we observed high concentrations of large pellets that appeared to be produced during night-time by dielly migrating euphausiids. High concentrations of pellets were found in near-surface waters only when euphausiids co-occurred with high concentrations of large (>10 μm) phytoplankton. Peak concentrations of pellets at mid-depth (100 or 150 m) during the day were consistent with the calculated sinking speeds of pellets produced near the surface at night. At these high flux locations (HI group), pellet concentrations declined below mid-depth. In contrast, at locations where the phytoplankton assemblage was dominated by small phytoplankton cells (<10 μm), pellet production and flux were low (LO group) whether or not euphausiid populations were high. Protozooplankton concentrations did not affect this pattern. We concluded that the day and night differences in pellet concentration and flux in the HI profiles were mostly due to sinking of dielly-pulsed inputs in the surface layer, and that small zooplankton (Oithona, Oncaea), heterotrophic dinoflagellates, and bacterial activity probably caused some pellet degradation or consumption below 100 m. We estimated that consumption of sinking pellets by large copepods was insignificant. High fluxes of pellets were episodic because they required both high concentrations of large phytoplankton and large stocks of euphausiids. Under these conditions, flux events overwhelmed retention mechanisms, resulting in large exports of organic matter from the upper 200 m.     

Abundance, distribution and patch formation of zooplankton

The goal of studies described here was to determine the responses of zooplankton taxa to phytoplankton patches which develop in and near intrusions of cold, nutrient-rich Gulf Stream water. To achieve this goal we determined the horizontal and vertical distributions of abundant mesozooplankton taxa on the south-eastern continental shelf of the USA between 29°30′ and 31°N. The study period was from June 23 to August 16, 1981. Highest concentrations of zooplankton usually occurred in and near patches of phytoplankton. Increased phytoplankton appeared to trigger the formation of patches of the calanoid copepod Temora turbinata and the cyclopoid copepods Oithona spp. and Oncaea spp. The patches of zooplankton had greater alongshore than cross-shelf dimensions. T. turbinata responded rapidly to increased concentrations of phytoplankton by reproducing and aggregating in and above intruded waters. Oithonidae which were often, but not always, abundant in phytoplankton patches eventually attained high concentrations over most of the middle and part of the inner shelf. Their concentration and that of Oncaeidae increased steadily. Oncaeidae were not abundant in recently upwelled waters, as was T. turbinata but reached high concentrations in older intrusions when the abundance of T. turbinata remained level or decreased slowly. Both cyclopoid taxa are thought to reproduce slowly (egg sacs) compared to T. turbinata. Another taxon, the doliolids, became abundant far more rapidly in intruded waters (by asexual reproduction) than did the other three taxa. Doliolids were the most opportunistic intrusion zooplankton form. They do not regularly occur in low abundance on the shelf, as do the three copepod taxa, but develop in pulses in regions where T. turbinata and Oncaea are not abundant. Of the four taxa studied the abundance of doliolids increased and decreased most rapidly, whereas Oithona and Oncaea increased slowly and did not decrease during the study period. T. turbinata and Oncaea were most abundant at 60% of all stations in the intruding water. Doliolids and Oithona on the other hand, were mostly in the thermocline and intrusion. Whereas phytoplankton patches, which developed in intrusions, were physically induced (PAFFENHÖFER and LEE, 1988), patches of zooplankton were biologically induced.     

Protein expression from zooplankton communities in a metal contaminated NW mediterranean coastal ecosystem

Bidimensional and monodimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were used to study protein expression from zooplankton collected in thirteen stations of Toulon Bay (NW Mediterranean). In this ecosystem, Little Bay showed higher trace metal concentrations (13.5–23.8 nM for Cu, 0.73–1.24 nM for Pb, 27.8–58.7 nM for Zn) than Large Bay (Cu 2.2–15.6 nM; Pb 0.19–0.78 nM; Zn 9.0–38.8 nM). Trace metals positively correlated (p < 0.05) with expression of four zooplankton proteins (MW in kDa/pI: 25.0/5.6; 48.8/4.1; 38.2/4.4; 38.3/5.8) and with biomass of Oithona nana, predominant copepod in Little Bay. Sequencing by LC–MS/MS putatively provided zooplankton identity of these proteins: they were cytoskeleton actin, except one protein that was the chaperone calreticulin. We suggest that actin and calreticulin could be regarded as zooplankton markers of metal stress and be involved in a possible tolerance of O. nana to contamination, contributing to its development in a marine perturbed ecosystem.     

Effects on zooplankton of a warmer ocean: Recent evidence from the Northeast Pacific

The consequences for pelagic communities of warming trends in mid and high latitude ocean regions could be substantial, but their magnitude and trajectory are not yet known. Environmental changes predicted by climate models (and beginning to be confirmed by observations) include warming and freshening of the upper ocean and reduction in the extent and duration of ice cover. One way to evaluate response scenarios is by comparing how “similar” zooplankton communities have differed among years and/or locations with differing temperature. The subarctic Pacific is a strong candidate for such comparisons, because the same mix of zooplankton species dominates over a wide range of temperature climatologies, and observations have spanned substantial temperature variability at interannual-to-decadal time scales. In this paper, we review and extend copepod abundance and phenology time series from net tow and Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys in the subarctic Northeast Pacific. The two strongest responses we have observed are latitudinal shifts in centers of abundance of many species (poleward under warm conditions), and changes in the life cycle timing of Neocalanus plumchrus in both oceanic and coastal regions (earlier by several weeks in warm years and at warmer locations). These zooplankton data, plus indices of higher trophic level responses such as reproduction, growth and survival of pelagic fish and seabirds, are all moderately-to-strongly intercorrelated (∣r∣ = 0.25-0.8) with indices of local and basin-scale temperature anomalies. A principal components analysis of the normalized anomaly time series from 1979 to 2004 shows that a single “warm-and-low-productivity” vs. “cool-and-high-productivity” component axis accounts for over half of the variance/covariance. Prior to 1990, the scores for this component were negative (“cool” and “productive”) or near zero except positive in the El Niño years 1983 and 1987. The scores were strongly and increasingly positive (“warm” and “low productivity”) from 1992 to 1998; negative from 1999 to 2002; and again increasingly positive from 2003-present. We suggest that, in strongly seasonal environments, anomalously high temperature may provide misleading environmental cues that contribute to timing mismatch between life history events and the more-nearly-fixed seasonality of insolation, stratification, and food supply.     

Non-Rayleigh acoustic scattering characteristics of individual fish and zooplankton

It has long been known that the statistical properties of acoustic echoes from individual fish can have non-Rayleigh characteristics. The statistical properties of echoes from zooplankton are generally less understood. In this study, echoes from individual fish and zooplankton from a series of laboratory measurements from the past decade are investigated. In the experiments, acoustic echoes from various individual organisms were measured over a wide range of frequencies and orientations, typically in 1/spl deg/-3/spl deg/ increments. In the analysis in this paper, the echoes from most of those measurements are grouped according to ranges of orientation, which correspond to typical orientation distributions of these organisms in the natural ocean environment. This grouping provides a distribution of echo values for each range of orientation. This approach, in essence, emulates a field experiment whereby distributions of echoes would be recorded for different distributions of orientations of the organisms. For both the fish and zooplankton data, there are conditions under which the echoes are strongly non-Rayleigh distributed. In some cases, the distribution is quantitatively connected to the physics of the scattering process while, in other cases, the connection is described qualitatively. Exploitation of the animal-specific statistics for classification purposes is suggested.     

Trophic ecology and vertical patterns of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in zooplankton from oxygen minimum zone regions

The unique physical and biogeochemical characteristics of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) influence plankton ecology, including zooplankton trophic webs. Using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, this study examined zooplankton trophic webs in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) OMZ. δ¹³C values were used to indicate zooplankton food sources, and δ¹⁵N values were used to indicate zooplankton trophic position and nitrogen cycle pathways. Vertically stratified MOCNESS net tows collected zooplankton from 0 to 1000 m at two stations along a north-south transect in the ETNP during 2007 and 2008, the Tehuantepec Bowl and the Costa Rica Dome. Zooplankton samples were separated into four size fractions for stable isotope analyses. Particulate organic matter (POM), assumed to represent a primary food source for zooplankton, was collected with McLane large volume in situ pumps.The isotopic composition and trophic ecology of the ETNP zooplankton community had distinct spatial and vertical patterns influenced by OMZ structure. The most pronounced vertical isotope gradients occurred near the upper and lower OMZ oxyclines. Material with lower δ¹³C values was apparently produced in the upper oxycline, possibly by chemoautotrophic microbes, and was subsequently consumed by zooplankton. Between-station differences in δ¹⁵N values suggested that different nitrogen cycle processes were dominant at the two locations, which influenced the isotopic characteristics of the zooplankton community. A strong depth gradient in zooplankton δ¹⁵N values in the lower oxycline suggested an increase in trophic cycling just below the core of the OMZ. Shallow POM (0–110 m) was likely the most important food source for mixed layer, upper oxycline, and OMZ core zooplankton, while deep POM was an important food source for most lower oxycline zooplankton (except for samples dominated by the seasonally migrating copepod Eucalanus inermis). There was no consistent isotopic progression among the four zooplankton size classes for these bulk mixed assemblage samples, implying overlapping trophic webs within the total size range considered.     

Human and climate forcing of zooplankton populations: Introduction

Zooplankton play a key role in the pelagic foodweb by controllingphytoplankton production and shaping pelagic ecosystems. Inaddition, because of their critical role as a food source forlarval and juvenile fish, the dynamics of zooplankton populationshave a significant influence on recruitment to fish stocks.In 1961, ICES convened the First Zooplankton Production Symposiumin Charlottenlund, Denmark. ICES also played a leading rolein the Second Zooplankton Production Symposium on "ZooplanktonProduction: measurement and role in global