Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea?
Abstract: Recent studies of marine ecosystems show conflicting evidence for trophic cascades, and in particular the relative strength of the crustacean zooplankton-phytoplankton link. The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory for investigating this apparent conflict. It is a site of seasonally high abund...
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dataone:http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600059 2024-06-03T18:46:24+00:00 Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? Lonsdale, Darcy BEGINDATE: 2006-09-15T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2011-02-28T00:00:00Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600059 unknown IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center Crustacean Phytoplankton Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Biology Antarctica Southern Ocean Biosphere Oceans Ross Sea US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) Dataset 2011 dataone:urn:node:IEDA_USAP 2024-06-03T18:11:58Z Abstract: Recent studies of marine ecosystems show conflicting evidence for trophic cascades, and in particular the relative strength of the crustacean zooplankton-phytoplankton link. The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory for investigating this apparent conflict. It is a site of seasonally high abundances of phytoplankton, characterized by regions of distinct phytoplankton taxa; the southcentral polynya is strongly dominated by the colony-forming prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica, while coastal regions of this sea are typically dominated by diatoms or flagellate species. Recent studies indicate that, while the south-central polynya exhibits a massive phytoplankton bloom, the poor food quality of P. antarctica for many crustacean zooplankton prevents direct utilization of much of this phytoplankton bloom. Rather, evidence suggests that indirect utilization of this production may be the primary mechanism by which carbon and energy become available to those higher trophic levels. Specifically, we hypothesized that nano- and microzooplankton constitute an important food source for crustacean zooplankton (largely copepods and juvenile euphausiids) during the summer period in the Ross Sea where the phytoplankton assemblage is dominated by the prymnesiophyte. In turn, we also hypothesize that predation by copepods (and other Crustacea) controls and structures the species composition of these protistan assemblages. We occupied stations in the south-central Ross Sea Polynya (RSP) and Terra Nova Bay (TNB) during austral summer to test these hypotheses. We hypothesized that the diatom species that dominate the phytoplankton assemblage in TNB constitute a direct source of nutrition to herbivorous/omnivorous zooplankton (relative to the situation in the south-central RSP). That is, the contribution of heterotrophic protists to crustacean diets will be reduced in TNB. Our research addressed fundamental gaps in our knowledge of food web structure and trophic cascades. Dataset Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Copepods IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center (via DataONE) Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center (via DataONE) |
op_collection_id |
dataone:urn:node:IEDA_USAP |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Crustacean Phytoplankton Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Biology Antarctica Southern Ocean Biosphere Oceans Ross Sea US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) |
spellingShingle |
Crustacean Phytoplankton Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Biology Antarctica Southern Ocean Biosphere Oceans Ross Sea US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) Lonsdale, Darcy Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
topic_facet |
Crustacean Phytoplankton Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Biology Antarctica Southern Ocean Biosphere Oceans Ross Sea US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) |
description |
Abstract: Recent studies of marine ecosystems show conflicting evidence for trophic cascades, and in particular the relative strength of the crustacean zooplankton-phytoplankton link. The Ross Sea is a natural laboratory for investigating this apparent conflict. It is a site of seasonally high abundances of phytoplankton, characterized by regions of distinct phytoplankton taxa; the southcentral polynya is strongly dominated by the colony-forming prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica, while coastal regions of this sea are typically dominated by diatoms or flagellate species. Recent studies indicate that, while the south-central polynya exhibits a massive phytoplankton bloom, the poor food quality of P. antarctica for many crustacean zooplankton prevents direct utilization of much of this phytoplankton bloom. Rather, evidence suggests that indirect utilization of this production may be the primary mechanism by which carbon and energy become available to those higher trophic levels. Specifically, we hypothesized that nano- and microzooplankton constitute an important food source for crustacean zooplankton (largely copepods and juvenile euphausiids) during the summer period in the Ross Sea where the phytoplankton assemblage is dominated by the prymnesiophyte. In turn, we also hypothesize that predation by copepods (and other Crustacea) controls and structures the species composition of these protistan assemblages. We occupied stations in the south-central Ross Sea Polynya (RSP) and Terra Nova Bay (TNB) during austral summer to test these hypotheses. We hypothesized that the diatom species that dominate the phytoplankton assemblage in TNB constitute a direct source of nutrition to herbivorous/omnivorous zooplankton (relative to the situation in the south-central RSP). That is, the contribution of heterotrophic protists to crustacean diets will be reduced in TNB. Our research addressed fundamental gaps in our knowledge of food web structure and trophic cascades. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Lonsdale, Darcy |
author_facet |
Lonsdale, Darcy |
author_sort |
Lonsdale, Darcy |
title |
Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
title_short |
Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
title_full |
Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
title_fullStr |
Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Do Crustacean Zooplankton Play a Pivotal Role in Structuring Heterotrophic Plankton Communities in the Ross Sea? |
title_sort |
do crustacean zooplankton play a pivotal role in structuring heterotrophic plankton communities in the ross sea? |
publisher |
IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600059 |
op_coverage |
BEGINDATE: 2006-09-15T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2011-02-28T00:00:00Z |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Austral Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Copepods |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Copepods |
_version_ |
1800873578271342592 |