Effects of copepods on natural microplankton communities: do they exert top-down control?

Armengol, Laia; Franchy, Gara; Ojeda, Antonio A. Ramón; Santana-del-Pino, Ángelo; Hernández‐León, Santiago

doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3165-2

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is a common feature of oligotrophic systems because nanograzers are the largest consumers of primary production (Calbet, 2008). Previous studies (Schmoker and Hernández-León, 2013;Armengol et al, 2017) found a strong correlation between microplankton and autotrophic picoplankton in these waters and suggested that small-sized microplankton controlled smaller autotrophic cells, supporting our results.…”

Section: Trophic Web Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Opposite to our results, Schmoker and Hernández-León (2013) found ciliates as the most abundant organisms of the microplankton community during their study between 2005 and 2007. We hypothesize that the large biomass of mesozooplankton during 2010 preyed on ciliates as the preference of copepods for ciliates is well known (Stibor et al, 2004a,b;Vadstein et al, 2004;Calbet and Saiz, 2005;Armengol et al, 2017), potentially explaining in part the low ciliate biomass during 2010 (0.70 mgC m −3 ± 0.25 SD) in comparison to 2011 (1.12 mgC m −3 ± 0.54 SD). The mesozooplankton biomass increased after dust deposition (Figure 8), especially after the main event on March 18th, in accordance with previous studies in the area (Hernández-León et al, 2004).…”

Section: Community Successionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Micrograzers control more than 80% of primary production in the CanCS (Arístegui et al, 2001;Marañón et al, 2007), and microzooplankton grazing has been pointed out as the principal mechanism limiting the phytoplankton growth both in artificial iron injections (Landry et al, 2000a,b;de Baar et al, 2005;Boyd et al, 2007;Henjes et al, 2007) and in dust addition experiments (Herut et al, 2005;Marañón et al, 2010). On the other hand, larger diatoms are the most favored organisms when primary production is artificially induced (Landry et al, 2000b;de Baar et al, 2005;Boyd et al, 2007;Henjes et al, 2007) because of their higher growth rates and a lower grazing pressure compared to prokaryotic algae (Landry et al, 2000a,b;Henjes et al, 2007;Armengol et al, 2017). Mesozooplankton controls microplankton (Schmoker and Hernández-León, 2013;Armengol et al, 2017), which mainly prey on non-pigmented organisms (Arístegui et al, 2001;Hernández-León et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, larger diatoms are the most favored organisms when primary production is artificially induced (Landry et al, 2000b;de Baar et al, 2005;Boyd et al, 2007;Henjes et al, 2007) because of their higher growth rates and a lower grazing pressure compared to prokaryotic algae (Landry et al, 2000a,b;Henjes et al, 2007;Armengol et al, 2017). Mesozooplankton controls microplankton (Schmoker and Hernández-León, 2013;Armengol et al, 2017), which mainly prey on non-pigmented organisms (Arístegui et al, 2001;Hernández-León et al, 2004). Finally, diel vertical migrants (mainly zooplankton a micronekton) exert a predation pressure on mesozooplankton (Moore, 1950;Uda, 1956;Angel, 1989;Hernández-León et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Plankton Community Changes From Warm to Cold Winters in the Oligotrophic Subtropical Ocean

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Subtropical gyres are large areas of the ocean characterized by high stratification, low nutrients, and low primary production. The Canary Current System (CanCS) shows a rather strong seasonal thermocline during most of the annual cycle, which erodes through convective mixing from January to March promoting the so-called Late Winter Bloom (LWB). Atmospheric deposition from the Sahara desert is also another key feature of the CanCS providing additional nutrients to the euphotic zone. As a consequence of global warming, these oligotrophic regimes systems are expanding and the temperature increase affects phytoplankton, and reverberate on the food web structure and biogeochemical cycles. In the CanCS, the effect of warming and dust deposition on the planktonic community remains poorly know. Here, we show the effects of a 0.5 • C increase in ocean temperature during two consecutive years. During 2011, winter temperature allowed the development of the LWB, promoting the increase of autotrophic cells and the coexistence of the microbial loop and the "classic" trophic web. The former predominated before and after the LWB, while the latter prevailed during the LWB. The rather high temperature during 2010 prevented the LWB development, causing highly oligotrophic conditions and episodic events of Saharan dust contributing to nutrient inputs. During this warm year, we found a dominance of small cells such as nanoflagellates and dinoflagellates, and surprisingly high biomass of mesozooplankton, hinting at the "tunneling effect" as an alternative trophic pathway (rapid uptake of phosphate by prokaryotes which are consumed by flagellates and then by zooplankton). These changes show the impact of a slight increase in temperature in this oligotrophic system and how future scenarios in the context of global warming could promote considerable shifts in the trophic web structure.

show abstract

Section: Trophic Web Relationshipssupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Community Successionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Plankton Community Changes From Warm to Cold Winters in the Oligotrophic Subtropical Ocean

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Predation on microzooplankton by copepods dampens the primary herbivore response to phytoplankton biomass increase (Nejstgaard et al ; Leising et al ; Löder et al ). Such trophic cascades can play a pivotal role in controlling bloom dynamics (Vadstein et al , Flynn and Irigoien ; Armengol et al ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diatom‐produced allelochemicals trigger trophic cascades in the planktonic food web

Franzè

Pierson

Stoecker

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Diatoms produce a series of cytotoxic secondary metabolites such as polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUA) in response to cell injury or stress. However, little information exists on the PUA effects on the pelagic food web. A set of experiments was conducted in the Chesapeake Bay and the coastal Atlantic waters using dissolved PUA (2E,4E-octadienal and 2E,4E-heptadienal), natural assemblages of phytoplankton and microzooplankton, and the copepod Acartia tonsa. The results demonstrate that PUA primarily acts as deterrent for microzooplankton herbivory on diatoms, while enhancing herbivory on picophytoplankton. This switch should favor PUA-producing diatoms by simultaneously reducing direct grazing losses and competition. Additionally, PUA stimulated copepod predation on microzooplankton, particularly on ciliates. Combined, these effects have the potential to disrupt growth-grazing equilibrium in the pelagic food web and create an opportunity for bloom development.

show abstract

Hydrodynamics structure plankton communities and interactions in a freshwater tidal estuary

Smits

Loken

Nieuwenhuyse

et al. 2023

Ecological Monographs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drivers of phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics vary spatially and temporally in estuaries due to variation in hydrodynamic exchange and residence time, complicating efforts to understand controls on food web productivity. We conducted approximately monthly (2012–2019; n = 74) longitudinal sampling at 10 fixed stations along a freshwater tidal terminal channel in the San Francisco Estuary, California, characterized by seaward to landward gradients in water residence time, turbidity, nutrient concentrations, and plankton community composition. We used multivariate autoregressive state space (MARSS) models to quantify environmental (abiotic) and biotic controls on phytoplankton and mesozooplankton biomass. The importance of specific abiotic drivers (e.g., water temperature, turbidity, nutrients) and trophic interactions differed significantly among hydrodynamic exchange zones with different mean residence times. Abiotic drivers explained more variation in phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics than a model including only trophic interactions, but individual phytoplankton–zooplankton interactions explained more variation than individual abiotic drivers. Interactions between zooplankton and phytoplankton were strongest in landward reaches with the longest residence times and the highest zooplankton biomass. Interactions between cryptophytes and both copepods and cladocerans were stronger than interactions between bacillariophytes (diatoms) and zooplankton taxa, despite contributing less biovolume in all but the most landward reaches. Our results demonstrate that trophic interactions and their relative strengths vary in a hydrodynamic context, contributing to food web heterogeneity within estuaries at spatial scales smaller than the freshwater to marine transition.

show abstract

Effects of copepods on natural microplankton communities: do they exert top-down control?

Cited by 19 publications

References 70 publications

Plankton Community Changes From Warm to Cold Winters in the Oligotrophic Subtropical Ocean

Plankton Community Changes From Warm to Cold Winters in the Oligotrophic Subtropical Ocean

Diatom‐produced allelochemicals trigger trophic cascades in the planktonic food web

Hydrodynamics structure plankton communities and interactions in a freshwater tidal estuary

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About