Plankton food webs of the Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds of Atlantic Bluefin tuna

Stukel, Michael R.; Gerard, Trika; Kelly, Thomas B; Knapp, Angela N.; Laiz‐Carrión, Raúl; Lamkin, John T.; Landry, Michael R.; Malca, Estrella; Selph, Karen E.; Shiroza, Akihiro; Shropshire, Taylor A; Swalethorp, Rasmus

doi:10.1101/2020.07.29.227116

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Nevertheless, their TP ranges were not characterized according to colony size in our results and could mainly reflect their species-specific feeding ecology, as discussed in a previous study (Damian-Serrano et al, 2021). In contrast, tunicates consume phytoplankton-based particles via filterfeeding (Henschke et al, 2016;Stukel et al, 2020). Thus, the d 15 N Bulk values of tunicates were lower than those of other predators such as chaetognaths.…”

Section: Feeding Ecology Of Gelatinous Zooplanktoncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Distribution of siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and links to environmental conditions

Park,

Choi,

Shin

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Despite their abundance in marine ecosystems, studies on siphonophores are limited. In this study, 26 species of siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean were identified during multiple cruises of the R/V ISABU from 2018–2020, and various factors that may affect the occurrence of siphonophores, including water temperature, salinity, zooplankton biomass, and trophic niche were investigated. Statistical analysis revealed that the distribution of siphonophores and their biomass could be divided into two water mass groups, affected by the Kuroshio and Oyashio Currents. The species with high contributions to distinguishing the water mass groups (including Chelophyes contorta, Dimophyes arctica, Bassia bassensis, and Eudoxoides spiralis—mainly belonging to the Diphyidae) showed species-specific correlations with water temperature and salinity. This suggests that diphyids can be used as indicator species for currents and hydrological factors that influence water mass. The biomass of siphonophores exhibited a trend opposite to that of non-gelatinous zooplankton and showed no association with other gelatinous zooplankton. These results can be interpreted from an ecological niche perspective. Through nitrogen and carbon stable isotope analyses, the dietary sources of siphonophores could potentially overlap with those of chaetognaths or non-gelatinous zooplankton. Because the trophic position of siphonophores (2.4–3.2) also falls in the range of those of chaetognaths (2.8–3.4) and non-gelatinous zooplankton including copepods, euphausiids, and amphipods (2.4–3.5), diet competition with carnivorous mesozooplankton could be predicted. Considering that the diversity and biomass of most siphonophores are strongly positively correlated with water temperature and salinity, expansion of the Kuroshio Current is expected to lead to an increase in siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific in the future. The findings of this study are anticipated to provide novel insights into climate change prediction and response and enhance our understanding of siphonophore communities.

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Section: Feeding Ecology Of Gelatinous Zooplanktoncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Distribution of siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and links to environmental conditions

Park,

Choi,

Shin

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…3 Figure 2b). This underestimates in situ active transport since organic excretion and zooplankton mortality at depth are not considered 19 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lateral Advection Supports Nitrogen Export in the Oligotrophic Open-Ocean Gulf of Mexico

Kelly

Knapp

Landry

et al. 2020

Preprint

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In contrast to its productive coastal margins, the open-ocean Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is notable for highly stratified surface waters with extremely low nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations. Field campaigns in 2017 and 2018 indicate low rates of turbulent mixing, which combined with oligotrophic nutrient conditions, give very low estimates of diffusive flux of nitrate into the euphotic zone (< 1 µmol N m-2 d-1). Estimates of local N2-fixation are similarly low. In comparison, measured export rates of sinking particulate organic nitrogen (PON) from the euphotic zone are 2-3 orders of magnitude higher (i.e. 462 – 1144 µmol N m-2 d-1). We reconcile these disparate findings with regional scale dynamics inferred independently from remote-sensing products and a regional biogeochemical model and find that laterally-sourced organic matter is sufficient to support >90% of open-ocean nitrogen export in the GoM. Results show that lateral transport needs to be closely considered in studies of biogeochemical balances, particularly for basins enclosed by productive coasts.

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“…Realism could be added by incorporating the impact of maternal effects such as initializing egg weights based on the condition of spawning females. Because ABT are selective feeders, even within mesozooplankton size class ( Shiroza et al., this issue ), added realism may also be achieved by combining NEMURO-GoM with a zooplankton food web model ( Stukel et al., this issue ) to improve ingestion estimates. We note that initial comparisons of ABT recruitment times series and yearly larval survival predicted by the model do not agree well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-offs between risks of predation and starvation in larvae make the shelf break an optimal spawning location for Atlantic bluefin tuna

Shropshire

Morey

Chassignet

et al. 2021

Journal of Plankton Research

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Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) (Thunnus thynnus) travel long distances to spawn in oligotrophic regions of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) which suggests these regions offer some unique benefit to offspring survival. To better understand how larval survival varies within the GoM a spatially explicit, Lagrangian, individual-based model was developed that simulates dispersal and mortality of ABT early life stages within realistic predator and prey fields during the spawning periods from 1993 to 2012. The model estimates that starvation is the largest cumulative source of mortality associated with an early critical period. However, elevated predation on older larvae is identified as the main factor limiting survival to late postflexion. As a result, first-feeding larvae have higher survival on the shelf where food is abundant, whereas older larvae have higher survival in the open ocean with fewer predators, making the shelf break an optimal spawning area. The modeling framework developed in this study explicitly simulates both physical and biological factors that impact larval survival and hence could be used to support ecosystem based management efforts for ABT under current and future climate conditions.

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Plankton food webs of the Gulf of Mexico spawning grounds of Atlantic Bluefin tuna

Cited by 5 publications

References 70 publications

Distribution of siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and links to environmental conditions

Distribution of siphonophores in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and links to environmental conditions

Lateral Advection Supports Nitrogen Export in the Oligotrophic Open-Ocean Gulf of Mexico

Trade-offs between risks of predation and starvation in larvae make the shelf break an optimal spawning location for Atlantic bluefin tuna

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