Publication Date:
2019-07-17
Description:
The timing of zooplankton reproduction in relation to spring pelagic bloomis essential in determining grazers' recruitment
success and the transport of biomass through the system. At high latitudesmarine ecosystems are characterized
by extreme seasonality with the production of autotrophes concentrated during the spring. In two
consecutive years we studied mesozooplankton during spring and early summer in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard
(79°N), aiming at identifying the main grazers and understanding what affects the timing in zooplankton. The
main grazerswere females and nauplii of holoplanktonic Calanus, togetherwithmeroplanktonic Cirripedia nauplii
and Polychaeta larvae. The appearing of offspring and larvae showed a correlation with the spring bloom which
occurred earlier in 2004 compared to 2003. The Arctic Calanus glacialis reproduced before its Atlantic counterpart
Calanus finmarchicus and prior to the bloom. In the Arctic regions decreasing sea ice cover as a result of climate
change is expected to alter the timing of the spring bloom which in turn will pose a need for the zooplankton
to adjust their reproduction activities. Subsequently, this adjustmentwill influence ecosystem functioningmainly
by modifying particulate organic matter and energy fluxes.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
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