The impact of increasing temperatures on dormancy duration in Calanus finmarchicus

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Pierson, James J., Batchelder, Harold, Saumweber, Whitley, Leising, Andrew, Runge, Jeffrey
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2013
• Subjects: FEATURED ARTICLE; Calanus finmarchicus; North Atlantic; Copepods
• Online Access: http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/35/3/504; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbt022

Dormancy is a key life history trait of planktonic calanoid copepods in the genus Calanus . Empirical evidence suggests that duration of dormancy is controlled by ambient temperature driving lipid metabolism in individuals. Here, we use the temperature-dependent metabolic rates of overwintering individuals to show that increasing temperatures, associated with global climate change over the next several decades, may reduce dormancy duration for the north Atlantic species C. finmarchicus by up to 40 days. Our calculations are based on comparing predicted dormancy duration for individuals of a given size at specific temperatures to dormancy duration at warmer temperatures and smaller size. We also provide corrections to the relationship of dormancy duration described by Saumweber and Durbin [Estimating potential diapause duration in Calanus finmarchicus. Deep Sea Res. Pt. II., 53, 2597–2617.]. Our calculations indicate that changing temperatures in the sea may lead to phenological shifts in life histories of C. finmarchicus and congeners, which may have implications for planktonic food web and trophic dynamics.