Life history and biogeography of Calanus copepods in the Arctic Ocean: An individual-based modeling study (original) (raw)

Advanced recruitment and accelerated population development in Arctic calanoid copepods of the North Water

2002

The timing of copepodite recruitment and population development of copepods in spring and early summer (April-July) were compared between the North Water polynya and Barrow Strait, a non-polynya region in the Canadian Archipelago. In the North Water, young copepodites (CI-CIII) of calanoid herbivores were concentrated in the cold and chlorophyll-rich water at the base of the Arctic surface layer, while later stages (CIV-CV) invaded the warmer surface layer. The phytoplankton bloom and the recruitment of the first cohort of copepodites of Calanus hyperboreus, C. glacialis, and Pseudocalanus spp started in May-June, some 1.5-3 months earlier than in Barrow Strait. Consistent with a precocious summer recruitment, population stage structure of these species in early spring (April-May) was more advanced in the North Water than in Barrow Strait. The recruitment in June of CI of the omnivore Metridia longa was advanced by at least 5 weeks in the polynya relative to Barrow Strait. We found no evidence for an acceleration of the population development of the small Microcalanus pygmaeus, Oithona similis or Oncaea borealis in the polynya.

Can a key boreal Calanus copepod species now complete its life-cycle in the Arctic? Evidence and implications for Arctic food-webs

Ambio

The changing Arctic environment is affecting zooplankton that support its abundant wildlife. We examined how these changes are influencing a key zooplankton species, Calanus finmarchicus, principally found in the North Atlantic but expatriated to the Arctic. Close to the ice-edge in the Fram Strait, we identified areas that, since the 1980s, are increasingly favourable to C. finmarchicus. Field-sampling revealed part of the population there to be capable of amassing enough reserves to overwinter. Early developmental stages were also present in early summer, suggesting successful local recruitment. This extension to suitable C. finmarchicus habitat is most likely facilitated by the long-term retreat of the ice-edge, allowing phytoplankton to bloom earlier and for longer and through higher temperatures increasing copepod developmental rates. The increased capacity for this species to complete its life-cycle and prosper in the Fram Strait can change community structure, with large cons...

Timing of reproductive events in the marine copepod Calanus glacialis : a pan-Arctic perspective

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2013

The timing of reproductive events of Calanus glacialis is closely coupled to the two major marine primary production events in the Arctic: the ice algal and phytoplankton blooms. Reproductive strategies vary between different physical and biological environments of the European and Canadian Arctic. In the Canadian Beaufort Sea and the high Arctic Rijpfjorden on Svalbard, C. glacialis utilized the ice algae bloom to fuel spawning in spring, while growth and development of the new generation was primarily supported by the phytoplankton bloom. In the predominantly ice-free Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard), C. glacialis was mainly a capital breeder spawning early in the season in the absence of food. This enabled the offspring to synchronize their growth and development with the phytoplankton bloom and, thus, reproduce successfully despite the lack of an early ice algal bloom. The variability in life history traits observed in the Canadian and European Arctic is compared with data from other Arctic regions to present a pan-Arctic perspective on life cycle strategies of C. glacialis.

Contrasting Life Traits of Sympatric Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus in a Warming Arctic Revealed by a Year-Round Study in Isfjorden, Svalbard

Frontiers in Marine Science

The calanoid copepod Calanus glacialis dominates the mesozooplankton biomass in the Arctic shelf seas, but its smaller North Atlantic sibling Calanus finmarchicus is expanding northwards and may potentially replace it if the climate continues to warm. Here we studied the population structure, overwintering strategies, gonad maturation and egg production of C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus over a period of 15 consecutive months in a high-Arctic fjord with sub-Arctic ocean climate and no sea ice formation in winter. The relative proportions of C. glacialis and C. finmarchicus varied throughout the study period, but with an overall dominance of C. glacialis. The overwintering population of C. glacialis was dominated by copepodite stage CIV (74%) while C. finmarchicus overwintered mainly as CV (65%), reflecting a primarily two- and one-year life cycle, respectively. Adult males and females of C. glacialis appeared as early as October with a peak during December-January, two months earli...

Growth and production dynamics of Calanus glacialis in an arctic pelagic food web

Marine Ecology-progress Series, 1990

A production model for the herbivorous arctic copepod Calanus glacialis is presented. The model combines data on growth rates obtained from energy balance studies with population structure data gathered during the arctic productive period. A 2 yr life cycle suggests that the species is present in the plankton as 2 main year classes, thus enabling it to utilize the short annual spring bloom during both spawning and the intensive growth period from CIV to CV This pattern of life cycle should reduce the probability of food limitation during spawning and during periods of high lipid deposition as from CIV to CV A tentative assessment of total annual production is calculated to 8.4 g C m-' with a maximum of 0.16 g C m-2 d-' during August. PIB ratios calculated from balance experiments ranged from 0.03 to 0.05 during July. Results from sensitivity analysis are presented in order to highlight especially important ecological aspects of this species in the arctic environment.

Seasonal phenology of four dominant copepods in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean: Insights from statistical analyses of sediment trap data

Polar Science, 2019

In recent years, marine ecosystems have changed due to the drastic sea ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean, but the relationship between copepod phenology and environmental drivers is unclear. To reveal the relationship, seasonal changes in the flux (abundance of swimmers), population structure, lipid accumulation and gonad maturation of four dominant copepods (Calanus hyperboreus, Metridia longa, Paraeuchaeta glacialis and Heterorhabdus norvegicus) were studied using a sediment trap deployed at a depth of 222 m in the Pacific-Arctic sector from October 2010 to September 2013. C. hyperboreus, mostly comprising copepodid stage 6 females (C6F), exhibited several peaks in flux in spring and autumn. C. hyperboreus C6Fs were dominated by lipid-rich specimens year-round, and gonad development was observed in these samples from February to April. The M. longa flux showed no clear seasonality. Gonad maturation of M. longa C6Fs occurred from February to September. P. glacialis flux exhibited two peaks in autumn of 2011 and 2012. In contrast to the former two species, lipid-rich, mature P. glacialis C6Fs occurred year-round. H. norvegicus copepodid stage 6 males (C6Ms) also occurred throughout the year, likely because H. norvegicus has functional feeding appendages, even in C6Ms. From generalized additive models, C. hyperboreus, M. longa and P. glacialis showed relationships with daytime length and/or sea ice concentrations, but the relationship patterns were different. These findings suggest that the response (e.g., vertical migration) to the environmental parameters could vary with species and the drastic sea ice reductions may affect the copepod phenology in the Pacific-Arctic sector.

Phenological responses of the Arctic, ubiquitous, and boreal copepod species to long-term changes in the annual seasonality of the water temperature in the White Sea

Polar Biology, 2021

The process of climate change by which global temperatures increase and seasonal shifts occur is more pronounced at higher latitudes. These changes induce shifts in the phenology of biota, including zooplankton. Regression analysis revealed significant advance of the spring–summer water warming in the sub-Arctic White Sea (Chupa Inlet, Kandalaksha Bay), which occurs 3 weeks earlier in the last decade compared with 1961. The shift of timing of phenological events of Calanus glacialis, Pseudocalanus spp., Microsetella norvegica, Oithona similis, Acartia spp., Centropages hamatus, and Temora longicornis is particularly pronounced. These shifts were accompanied by a significant increase in Calanus and Microsetella abundance with an observed decrease in Acartia abundance. No correlation between population abundance and year-to-year changes in the species phenology was determined. We propose hypotheses to explain species adaptation to these phenological shifts in the ecosystem: (1) flexib...

Distribution of Calanus finmarchicus in the northern North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean—Expatriation and potential colonization

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2007

The distribution of Calanus finmarchicus was studied on a transect across the central Greenland Sea, and on five transects from the Eurasian shelves across the Atlantic Inflow in the Arctic Ocean. Stage composition was used as an indicator for successful growth; gonad maturity and egg production were taken as indicators for reproductive activity. On the Arctic Ocean transects, these parameters were measured simultaneously from the sibling species Calanus glacialis. Response of egg production rate to different temperatures at optimal food conditions was very similar between both species in the laboratory. C. finmarchicus was present at all stations studied, but young developmental stages were only present close to the regions of submergence of Atlantic water under the Polar water. This together with a decreasing abundance and biomass from west to east along the Atlantic Inflow in the Arctic Ocean and reproductive failure indicates that C. finmarchicus is expatriated in the Arctic Ocean. We hypothesize that the late availability of food in the Arctic Ocean, rather than low temperature per se, limits reproductive success. Better reproductive success in the very low temperature regions of the Return Atlantic Current and the marginal ice zone in the Greenland Sea supports this hypothesis. The possibility for a replacement of C. glacialis by C. finmarchicus and consequences for the ecosystem after increasing warming of the Arctic are discussed. r

Interannual and seasonal variation of the population structure, abundance, and biomass of the arctic copepod Calanus glacialis in the White Sea

Oceanology, 2010

The results of multiyear observations of the seasonal and inter annual variability of the population structure, abundance, and biomass of the arctic calanoids copepod Calanus glacialis in the White Sea are pre sented. The spring season represents the most crucial period for the population's seasonal dynamics. During the spring, the maximal abundance, biomass, and contribution of C. glacialis to the total zooplankton biom ass is observed. The interannual variability of the abundance is closely related to the timing of the spring warming of the upper water column and the respective shifts of the onset of reproduction and the offspring development. The development of a new generation to the overwintering copepodite stage IV is usually com pleted three to four weeks later in the cold years compared to the warm ones. Our multiyear observations sug gest that C. glacialis could be more tolerant of Arctic warming than it is usually believed. The high abundance of the C. glacialis population in the White Sea indicates that this arctic species is able to cope with the seasonal surface warming and should continue to do so, being provided with the cold water "refuge" in the deep sea.