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Regional and temporal variation of Oithona spp. biomass, stage structure and productivity in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic

Regional and temporal variation of Oithona spp. biomass, stage structure and productivity in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic
Regional and temporal variation of Oithona spp. biomass, stage structure and productivity in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic
Oithona spp. standing stock and production is considered relatively stable in space and time as a result of continuous breeding, low metabolism, reduced predation mortality and the ability of these small cyclopoids to exploit microbial food webs more efficiently than larger copepods. However, through a review of the published literature we show that Oithona spp. biomass can vary widely both over the year and with latitude. Thus, the present study set out to investigate the basin scale variability in biomass, stage structure and reproduction of Oithona spp. in relation to changes in hydrographic, physico-chemical and biological parameters encountered during three cruises conducted between April and November 2002 in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic. Here we found that Oithona spp. biomass varied significantly with temperature and with dinoflagellates biomass concentration. On the other hand, O. similis egg production rates (EPR) increased with both ciliates and dinoflagellates concentrations, rather than with temperature. The inverse relationship we found between Oithona spp. naupliar recruitment with Calanus spp. and fish larvae abundance suggests that predation pressure may contribute to control the spatial variation in the stage structure and biomass of Oithona spp. and that the nauplii of this genus may serve as a food source for other planktonic organisms prior to the spring phytoplankton bloom.
Oithona similis, Cyclopoids, Secondary production, Spatial and temporal variability, Predation
0142-7873
1051-1070
Castellani, C.
d072ee09-3ed4-47c1-a9a2-8143fd00dfc9
Irigoien, X.
25aa155a-3d8c-4ea8-a7c4-7f7be79b5efa
Harris, R.P.
a507befb-c320-4af6-a48c-41ce48ca9e70
Holliday, N.P.
358b0b33-f30b-44fd-a193-88365bbf2c79
Castellani, C.
d072ee09-3ed4-47c1-a9a2-8143fd00dfc9
Irigoien, X.
25aa155a-3d8c-4ea8-a7c4-7f7be79b5efa
Harris, R.P.
a507befb-c320-4af6-a48c-41ce48ca9e70
Holliday, N.P.
358b0b33-f30b-44fd-a193-88365bbf2c79

Castellani, C., Irigoien, X., Harris, R.P. and Holliday, N.P. (2007) Regional and temporal variation of Oithona spp. biomass, stage structure and productivity in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic. Journal of Plankton Research, 29 (12), 1051-1070. (doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm079).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Oithona spp. standing stock and production is considered relatively stable in space and time as a result of continuous breeding, low metabolism, reduced predation mortality and the ability of these small cyclopoids to exploit microbial food webs more efficiently than larger copepods. However, through a review of the published literature we show that Oithona spp. biomass can vary widely both over the year and with latitude. Thus, the present study set out to investigate the basin scale variability in biomass, stage structure and reproduction of Oithona spp. in relation to changes in hydrographic, physico-chemical and biological parameters encountered during three cruises conducted between April and November 2002 in the Irminger Sea, North Atlantic. Here we found that Oithona spp. biomass varied significantly with temperature and with dinoflagellates biomass concentration. On the other hand, O. similis egg production rates (EPR) increased with both ciliates and dinoflagellates concentrations, rather than with temperature. The inverse relationship we found between Oithona spp. naupliar recruitment with Calanus spp. and fish larvae abundance suggests that predation pressure may contribute to control the spatial variation in the stage structure and biomass of Oithona spp. and that the nauplii of this genus may serve as a food source for other planktonic organisms prior to the spring phytoplankton bloom.

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More information

Published date: 15 October 2007
Additional Information: This is the Advance Access online version of the paper.
Keywords: Oithona similis, Cyclopoids, Secondary production, Spatial and temporal variability, Predation

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 48864
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/48864
ISSN: 0142-7873
PURE UUID: 226840f7-dd07-4d8e-9578-3972abfd4ee6

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Oct 2007
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 09:51

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Contributors

Author: C. Castellani
Author: X. Irigoien
Author: R.P. Harris
Author: N.P. Holliday

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