Spatial patterns of surface blooms and recruitment dynamics of Calanus finmarchicus in the NE Norwegian Sea

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Basedow, Sünnje L., Edvardsen, Are, Tande, Kurt S.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2006
• Subjects: Article; Norwegian Sea; Calanus finmarchicus
• Online Access: http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbl048v1; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbl048

Spatial dynamics of phytoplankton blooms and Calanus finmarchicus were analysed in a large-scale oceanic area (10,274 km) in the NE Norwegian Sea (69-71° N, 12-16° E). Data on hydrography, chlorophyll a and meso-zooplankton (net samples and Optical Plankton Counter) were collected in surface waters (0-30 m) during spring and early summer 2003. Spatial patterns of copepodites in relation to hydrography and chlorophyll a concentration were analysed by constrained correspondence analysis. Distribution of phytoplankton and C. finmarchicus was highly patchy. The overwintering generation (CV and adult females) had highest abundances in areas with phytoplankton blooms while the recruiting cohort (CII + CIII copepodites) was found in water parcels with low chlorophyll a concentration. Differences in recruitment dynamics between the southern and northern Norwegian Sea are discussed. Our data confirm the importance of phytoplankton spring blooms in initiating the recruitment of Calanus finmarchicus . This opens up for a future mapping of sea surface chlorophyll to depict the large scale variability in the demography of C. finmarchicus during the reproductive season in the Norwegian Sea.