Mesozooplankton community structure in offshore and coastal waters of the Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean) during mixed and stratified conditions

Ramfos, Alexis; Isari, Stamatina; Somarakis, Stylianos; Georgopoulos, Dimitris; Koutsikopoulos, Constantin; Fragopoulu, Nina

doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0326-0

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the epipelagic mesozooplankton standing stocks do not differ significantly between day and night Ramfos et al, 2006;Raybaud et al, 2008), due to the paucity of long-range migrant copepod species in the MS compared to the neighboring Atlantic Ocean (Scotto di Carlo et al, 1984). Diel changes in zooplankton abundance are reported at a smaller scale within the epipelagic layer, as in the case et al, 1984).…”

Section: Standing Stockmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, Calocalanus spp. (e.g., C. pavo, C. pavoninus), Haloptilus longicornis, oncaeids (e.g., Oncaea "media" group, O. mediterranea), and corycaeids (e.g., Farranula rostrata) contribute more to total copepod abundance in the EMS than in the WMS (Weikert and Trinkaus, 1990;Siokou-Frangou et al, 1997;Mazzocchi et al, 2003;Ramfos et al, 2006).…”

Section: Copepodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plankton in the open Mediterranean Sea: a review

et al. 2010

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Abstract. We present an overview of the plankton studies conducted during the last 25 years in the epipelagic offshore waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This quasi-enclosed sea is characterized by a rich and complex physical dynamics with distinctive traits, especially in regard to the thermohaline circulation. Recent investigations have basically confirmed the long-recognised oligotrophic nature of this sea, which increases along both the west-east and the north-south directions. Nutrient availability is low, especially for phosphorous (N:P up to 60), though this limitation may be buffered by inputs from highly populated coasts and from the atmosphere. Phytoplankton biomass, as chl a, generally displays low values (less than 0.2 µg chl a l −1 ) over large areas, with a modest late winter increase. A large bloom (up to 3 µg l −1 ) is observed throughout the late winter and spring exclusively in the NW area. Relatively high biomass values are recorded in fronts and cyclonic gyres. A deep chlorophyll maximum is a permanent feature for the whole basin, except during the late winter mixing. It is found at increasingly greater depths ranging from 30 m in the Alboran Sea to 120 m in the easternmost Levantine basin. Primary production reveals a west-east decreasing trend and ranges between 59 and 150 g C m −2 y −1 (in situ measurements). Overall, the basin is largely dominated by small autotrophs, microheterotrophs and egg-carrying copepod species. The microorganisms (phytoplankton, viruses, bacteria, flagellates and ciliates) and zooplankton components reveal a considerable diversity and

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Section: Standing Stockmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Copepodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plankton in the open Mediterranean Sea: a review

et al. 2010

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“…There have been several studies on the distribution of zooplankton groups, abundance, and biomass in the coastal waters of the western Mediterranean Sea (Calbet et al, 2001;Jamet et al, 2001;Fernandez de Puelles et al, 2003;Jamet et al, 2005;Rossi and Jamet, 2009) and eastern Mediterranean Sea (Mazzocchi and Ribera d' Alcala, 1995;Siokou-Frangou, 1996;Mozetic et al, 1998;SiokouFrangou et al, 1998;Ramfos et al, 2006;Vidjak et al, 2007;Kamburska and Fonda-Umani, 2009;Mazzocchi et al, 2011). However, there is limited information on the zooplankton community of the southern coast of Turkey.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplankton abundance, biomass, and size structure in the coastal waters of the northeastern Mediterranean Sea

Kurt¹,

Polat²

2015

Turk J Zool

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IntroductionThe coastal marine environment has great ecological and economic importance. It is highly sensitive and variable because of the variations in terrestrial input and open seawaters. In particular, estuaries and bays support various communities and are directly or indirectly affected by human activities (Cummins et al., 2004) and physical, chemical, and biological processes. Zooplanktonic organisms are one of the most important components of aquatic ecosystems; they convert plant protein into animal protein and contribute to matter and energy cycles. In addition to their important role in the food chain, these organisms are rapidly affected by variations in environmental factors and therefore provide information about the status of the ecosystem. Zooplankton composition in coastal areas can vary under specific hydrographic conditions, and these organisms reflect sharp changes in environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, light, density, and water circulation (Sherman, 1967).İskenderun Bay is located on the southeastern coast of Turkey. The bay is surrounded by many industrial facilities, and agricultural activities are carried out in the areas adjacent to the bay (Aksu et al., 2013). Approximately 500,000 people live around the bay, and, as the bay is a touristic spot, this number increases during summer. Moreover, fishery activities are intensively carried out in the bay. It has been observed that the bay is influenced by human activities (Terbiyik Kurt and Polat, 2013).The aim of this study was to increase our knowledge about the seasonal distribution of zooplankton abundance, group, and size composition and the impact of certain environmental parameters on zooplankton distribution in İskenderun Bay. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the coastal zooplankton ecology and provide basic information for long-term future studies in İskenderun Bay.There have been several studies on the distribution of zooplankton groups, abundance, and biomass in the coastal waters of the western

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“…For example, local peaks of biomass and abundance for the whole community and several taxa (e.g., Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes, M. merluccius, Raja clavata) were observed in coordinates corresponding to the Patraikos Gulf (approximately 38.3N/21.5E; Fig. 1), probably reflecting the relatively high productivity of this area (Ramfos et al 2006) explained by the presence of river deltas and estuaries. As concerns diversities of the total community, other than the Patraikos Gulf, these were also maximized in areas east of the central E. Ionian Sea islands, probably owing to increased diversities of the Crustacean sub-community.…”

Section: Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). The Eastern Ionian is an oligotrophic sea, reflecting the overall oligotrophic condition of the Mediterranean Sea, the narrowness of the continental shelf and the regional circulation (Theocharis et al 1993;Siokou-Frangou et al 2010), with productivity varying locally, being higher in semi-enclosed gulfs than in offshore waters (Ramfos et al 2006). As a consequence, spatial distributions of species and taxonomic groups have been found to be patchy (Politou et al 2003;Politou et al 2008b;Tserpes et al 2008).…”

Section: Study Area and Fishing Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscale spatio-temporal dynamics of demersal assemblages of the Eastern Ionian Sea in relationship with natural and fisheries factors

Tsagarakis

Mytilineou

Haralabous

et al. 2013

Aquat. Living Resour.

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-Data from the MEDITS bottom trawl surveys in the Eastern Ionian Sea, covering a depth range of 28 to 845 m were analysed for the period 1998-2008. For each trawling location, environmental and geographical parameters were recorded, while biomass, abundance, biodiversity and size-based metrics were estimated for the total megafaunal community, as well as for four taxonomic sub-communities (Osteichthyes, Chondrichthyes, Crustacea and Cephalopoda) which were expected to respond differently to environmental changes and fishing. In addition, biomass and abundance of ten species selected based on commercial interest, depth range and life history traits were explored, with particular emphasis on deep-sea species. Fishing effort data collected during the study period were analysed and showed a decreasing trend, mainly due to a decrease in the activity of static nets. The relation between the estimated parameters and environmental and spatial factors, as well as temporal (interannual) effects and the effect of fishing effort were explored using generalized additive models (GAMs). Results of GAMs showed that depth and location explained much of the variation in community metrics, probably reflecting mesoscale spatial features and species/communities requirements. Even though the different communities and species exhibited variant patterns in bathymetric and spatial distribution, some common aggregation patterns in productive areas were identified. Despite the relatively short time series, GAMs were effective in detecting increasing trends for several metrics; taking into account spatial factors further contributed to attributing the remaining deviance to temporal effects. These trends were partly explained by the observed decline of fishing effort, which is further supported by the fact that negative relations between several metrics and fishing effort were identified, for some of the selected communities and populations. Abundance, species richness and maximum length proved the most informative metrics concerning the effect of fishing. The current decline in fishing effort in the area seems to be a move in the right direction and should be complemented by additional measures aiming to prevent allocation of effort towards the deep sea.

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Mesozooplankton community structure in offshore and coastal waters of the Ionian Sea (eastern Mediterranean) during mixed and stratified conditions

Cited by 33 publications

References 38 publications

Plankton in the open Mediterranean Sea: a review

Plankton in the open Mediterranean Sea: a review

Zooplankton abundance, biomass, and size structure in the coastal waters of the northeastern Mediterranean Sea

Mesoscale spatio-temporal dynamics of demersal assemblages of the Eastern Ionian Sea in relationship with natural and fisheries factors

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