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Seasonality in surface‐layer net zooplankton communities in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Author(s) -
Cooney R. T.,
Coyle K. O.,
Stockmar E.,
Stark C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fisheries oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1365-2419
pISSN - 1054-6006
DOI - 10.1046/j.1054-6006.2001.00037.x
Subject(s) - acartia , zooplankton , calanus , oceanography , seasonality , sound (geography) , clupea , crustacean , pacific herring , biology , biomass (ecology) , plankton , herring , fishery , ecology , copepod , geology , fish <actinopterygii>
The upper‐layer net‐zooplankton community in Prince William Sound, Alaska, is characterized by strong seasonality. Abundance and wet‐weight biomass in the upper 50 m drop to fewer than 100 individuals and 10 mg m −3 in February before rebounding to 5000 individuals and 600 mg m −3 in June. Copepods dominate in all months, but are augmented by other prominent taxa, particularly pteropods and larvaceans during the late spring, summer and fall. The small copepods Pseudocalanus , Acartia and Oithona are common. Though much less abundant, larger calanoids like Neocalanus , Calanus and Metridia contribute substantially to the biomass in spring and early summer. Meroplankters like barnacle nauplii are also occasionally very abundant. Neocalanus , Calanus and Pseudocalanus all exhibit ontogenetic vertical displacement of populations when stage 5 copepodites (C5) leave the surface in late May and early June for deep water. This seasonality has implications for food‐webs supporting juvenile pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha ) and Pacific herring ( Clupea pallasi ) in Prince William Sound.