Predation by juvenile salmonids on harpacticoid copepods in a shallow subtidal seagrass bed : effects on copepod community structure and dynamics ...

• Main Author: Webb, Donald G.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha; Copepods
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0053253; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0053253

The hypothesis that predation by juvenile chum (Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum)) and pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum)) salmon controls the abundance of harpacticoid copepods inhabiting a shallow subtidal seagrass (Zostera marina L.) bed on Roberts Bank, British Columbia, was tested. Previous studies of the impact of juvenile salmonid predation on harpacticoid communities have yielded contradictory results and have been based on indirect and weak evidence. The hypothesis was tested in two ways: by comparison of patterns of harpacticoid mortality with patterns of salmonid consumption and by the response of the harpacticoid community in controlled field experiments in which epibenthic predators/disturbers were excluded from portions of the seagrass bed. Samples of Zostera leaves and underlying sediment were collected at approximately biweekly intervals from late January to early July in 1986 and 1987 for the estimation of harpacticoid copepod abundance at the study site. Collections for estimation of juvenile ...