Zooplankton successional patterns and response times were characterized in a tropical estuary following a major storm-runoff event to evaluate the effects of a nutrient perturbation on community composition and dynamics. Intensive water-column monitoring in southern Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, showed that dissolved macronutrients -NO 3 -+ NO 2 -, SRP (soluble reactive phosphorus) and Si(OH) 4 -increased significantly immediately following the initial runoff event. Bottom-up effects were evident in both phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. An initial phytoplankton bloom was dominated by small cells and lasted only a few days, while post-bloom pigment concentrations showed a more gradual increase in total chlorophyll a and a shift to a diatom-dominated community. The initial bloom had an unexpectedly large influence on zooplankton growth and reproduction on extremely short time scales. Appendicularians exhibited the most dramatic response, with biomass increasing 6-fold in 1 d, and abundances reaching values only rarely observed in these waters. Response covaried with organism size, with larger components of the community, especially calanoid copepods and gelatinous zooplankton, increasing as new resources became available. Post-bloom changes in zooplankton and phytoplankton community structure also suggest significant top-down controls on phytoplankton and zooplankton community biomass and structure, with increased predation on appendicularians and copepods resulting in partial release of grazing pressure on small and large cells, respectively. Nutrient-rich runoff can have significant and surprisingly rapid impacts on zooplankton population dynamics in tropical coastal waters via direct, pulsed, food influences on the growth and reproduction of omnivorous organisms and the indirect stimulation of secondary consumers.
Hyperiid amphipods are holoplanktonic marine crustaceans that are known as temporary symbionts of different groups of gelatinous zooplankton. The nature and dynamics of these associations are still poorly understood, particularly in deep waters. The mesopelagic and deep-living planktonic fauna off Monterey Bay, California (down to 4000 m) was surveyed using a remotely operated submersible (ROV) and blue-water diving (BWD) between September 2005 and January 2008. In this work we report our observations on a total of 51 symbiotic associations observed in situ (not from zooplankton samples), between hyperiid amphipods and various taxa of gelatinous zooplankton. We present the first information on the symbiotic relations of the hyperiid Vibilia caeca, and we provide data of 34 previously unknown symbiotic associations. The host range was expanded for several widely distributed hyperiid species. These findings suggest that the symbiotic associations between hyperiid amphipods and gelatinous zooplankton in deep waters deserve further study worldwide.
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