Influence of planktonic foodweb structure on a system's capacity to support pelagic production: an inverse analysis approach

Marquis, Elise; Niquil, Nathalie; Vézina, Alain F.; Petitgas, Pierre; Dupuy, Christine

doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsr027

Cited by 25 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…For instance, Plounevez and Champalbert (1999) already suggested that feeding efficiency in E. encrasicolus would be more related to zooplanktonspecific composition than to zooplankton abundance, even if the results of our study cannot confirm or invalidate this hypothesis. Marquis et al (2011) also reported that small pelagic fish only represent 30 % of the total predation on the mesozooplanktonic compartment in coastal stations in the Bay of Biscay (from spring data), and 60 and 65 % at the mid-shelf and the slope stations, respectively. These authors suggested that a large fraction of the mesozooplankton production would be then available for other planktivorous organisms such as suprabenthic zooplankton (euphausiids and mysids) or macrozooplankton (medusa or large tunicates) in the Bay of Biscay .…”

Section: Linking Resource Variability and Feeding Patterns Of Sardinementioning

confidence: 93%

Small pelagic fish feeding patterns in relation to food resource variability: an isotopic investigation for Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus from the Bay of Biscay (north-east Atlantic)

et al. 2014

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Small pelagic fish represent an essential link between lower and upper trophic levels in marine pelagic ecosystems and often support important fisheries. In the Bay of Biscay in the north-east Atlantic, no obvious controlling factors have yet been described that explain observed fluctuations in European sardine Sardina pilchardus and European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus stocks, in contrast to other systems. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate to which extent these fluctuations could be trophodynamically mediated. The trophic ecology of both fish species was characterised over three contrasting periods (spring 2010 and 2011 and autumn 2011) in the area, in relation to potential variation in the abundance and composition of the mesozooplankton resource. Stable isotope analyses of carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) were performed on potential mesozoplanktonic prey items and in the muscle of adult fish, as well as in the liver whenever available, and mixing models were applied. In both springs, the mesozooplankton resource was abundant but qualitatively different. During this period of the year, results based on muscle isotope values in particular showed that S. pilchardus and E. encrasicolus likely do not compete strongly for food. On the medium term, E.encrasicolus always presented a greater trophic plasticity than S. pilchardus, both in terms of feeding areas and in the size of the mesozooplanktonic prey consumed. In autumn, mesozooplankton abundances were lower, and it was likely that S. pilchardus and E.encrasicolus share food resources during this period. No clear links between the variation in the mesozooplanktonic resource and the trophic segregation maintained between adults of both fish species in spring could be made. Although a certain potential exists for trophodynamically mediated fluctuations of both species under specific abiotic conditions (i.e. due to the existing trophic segregation in spring in particular), the overall results suggest that fluctuations in abundance of both fish species are probably not directly linked to their trophic ecology in the Bay of Biscay, at least at the level of adult individuals.

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Section: Linking Resource Variability and Feeding Patterns Of Sardinementioning

confidence: 93%

Small pelagic fish feeding patterns in relation to food resource variability: an isotopic investigation for Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus from the Bay of Biscay (north-east Atlantic)

et al. 2014

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“…The high biomass areas such as along the French and Galician coasts still appear highly productive, but in addition, the shelf break is also more productive when compared to the midshelf, which is more conspicuous again over the French shelf. This is partly due to bathymetry, which tends to lower the values in coastal areas after vertical integration as compared to offshore deeper waters, but is also explained by differences in size structure of the zooplankton and underlying primary production (Marquis et al, 2011). The mid-shelf, with the flattest slopes and relatively large zooplankton, is estimated as less productive, even if the biomass seems close to the one over the slope.…”

Section: Productivity and Trophic Controlmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Within the size range of mesozooplankton (0.2-2 mm ESD), steeper slopes are generally related to lower efficiency of the matter flux, potentially with top-down control and a fewer number of trophic levels, whereas flatter slope areas are associated with efficient transfer under bottom-up control and a higher number of trophic levels (Zhou, 2006;Basedow et al, 2010;Marcolin et al, 2013). So, even if more productive, coastal areas (especially plumes) and to a lesser extent shelf break habitats may have a low transfer efficiency, mid-shelf areas may have a high transfer efficiency, through the structuration of the planktonic food web (Marquis et al, 2011). The fact that similar ranges of biomass occur in the mid-shelf and over the slope, despite higher productivity over the slope, is potentially a sign of higher efficiency for the mid-shelf habitat.…”

Section: Productivity and Trophic Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Springtime zooplankton size structure over the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay

Vandromme

Nogueira²,

Huret

et al. 2014

Ocean Sci.

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Abstract. Linking lower and higher trophic levels requires special focus on the essential role played by mid-trophic levels, i.e., the zooplankton. One of the most relevant pieces of information regarding zooplankton in terms of flux of energy lies in its size structure. In this study, an extensive data set of size measurements is presented, covering parts of the western European continental shelf and slope, from the Galician coast to the Ushant front, during the springs from 2005 to 2012. Zooplankton size spectra were estimated using measurements carried out in situ with the Laser Optical Plankton Counter (LOPC) and with an image analysis of WP2 net samples (200 µm mesh size) performed following the ZooScan methodology. The LOPC counts and sizes particles within 100-2000 µm of spherical equivalent diameter (ESD), whereas the WP2/ZooScan allows for counting, sizing and identification of zooplankton from ∼ 400 µm ESD. The difference between the LOPC (all particles) and the WP2/ZooScan (zooplankton only) was assumed to provide the size distribution of non-living particles, whose descriptors were related to a set of explanatory variables (including physical, biological and geographic descriptors). A statistical correction based on these explanatory variables was further applied to the LOPC size distribution in order to remove the non-living particles part, and therefore estimate the size distribution of zooplankton. This extensive data set provides relevant information about the zooplankton size distribution variability, productivity and trophic transfer efficiency in the pelagic ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay at a regional and interannual scale.

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“…Zooplankton are the intermediate trophic level between phytoplankton and fish and are an important component of carbon and nutrient cycles in the ocean. They account for a large proportion of the energy transfer to fish on continental shelves (Marquis et al, 2011), temperate reefs (Kingsford and MacDiarmid, 1988;Champion et al, 2015), seagrass meadows (Edgar and Shaw, 1995), and coral reefs (Hamner et al, 1988;Frisch et al, 2014). Zooplankton are also key in the transfer of energy between benthic and pelagic domains (Lassalle et al, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Modeling What We Sample and Sampling What We Model: Challenges for Zooplankton Model Assessment

et al. 2017

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Zooplankton are the intermediate trophic level between phytoplankton and fish, and are an important component of carbon and nutrient cycles, accounting for a large proportion of the energy transfer to pelagic fishes and the deep ocean. Given zooplankton's importance, models need to adequately represent zooplankton dynamics. A major obstacle, though, is the lack of model assessment. Here we try and stimulate the assessment of zooplankton in models by filling three gaps. The first is that many zooplankton observationalists are unfamiliar with the biogeochemical, ecosystem, size-based and individual-based models that have zooplankton functional groups, so we describe their primary uses and how each typically represents zooplankton. The second gap is that many modelers are unaware of the zooplankton data that are available, and are unaccustomed to the different zooplankton sampling systems, so we describe the main sampling platforms and discuss their strengths and weaknesses for model assessment. Filling these gaps in our understanding of models and observations provides the necessary context to address the last gap-a blueprint for model assessment of zooplankton. We detail two ways that zooplankton biomass/abundance observations can be used to assess models: data wrangling that transforms observations to be more similar to model output; and observation models that transform model outputs to be more like observations. We hope that this review will encourage greater assessment of zooplankton in models and ultimately improve the representation of their dynamics.Keywords: plankton net, bioacoustics, optical plankton counter, Continuous Plankton Recorder, size-spectra, ecosystem model, observation model, model assessment Everett et al. Challenges for Zooplankton Model Assessment THE IMPORTANCE OF ZOOPLANKTONAll marine phyla are part of the zooplankton-either permanently as holoplankton (e.g., copepods or arrow worms) or temporarily as meroplankton (e.g., crab or fish larvae). In this review we define zooplankton as all organisms drifting in the water whose locomotive abilities are insufficient to progress against ocean currents (Lenz, 2000). Their sizes range from flagellates (about 20 µm) to siphonophores up to 30 m long. Zooplankton are the intermediate trophic level between phytoplankton and fish and are an important component of carbon and nutrient cycles in the ocean. They account for a large proportion of the energy transfer to fish on continental shelves (Marquis et al., 2011), temperate reefs (Kingsford and MacDiarmid, 1988;Champion et al., 2015), seagrass meadows (Edgar and Shaw, 1995), and coral reefs (Hamner et al., 1988;Frisch et al., 2014). Zooplankton are also key in the transfer of energy between benthic and pelagic domains (Lassalle et al., 2013). Zooplankton are responsible for transferring energy to deep water through the sinking of fecal pellets and moribund carcases (Stemmann et al., 2000;Henschke et al., 2013Henschke et al., , 2016 or through diel vertical migration (Ariza et al., 2015) and can play...

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Influence of planktonic foodweb structure on a system's capacity to support pelagic production: an inverse analysis approach

Cited by 25 publications

References 43 publications

Small pelagic fish feeding patterns in relation to food resource variability: an isotopic investigation for Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus from the Bay of Biscay (north-east Atlantic)

Small pelagic fish feeding patterns in relation to food resource variability: an isotopic investigation for Sardina pilchardus and Engraulis encrasicolus from the Bay of Biscay (north-east Atlantic)

Springtime zooplankton size structure over the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay

Modeling What We Sample and Sampling What We Model: Challenges for Zooplankton Model Assessment

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