Climatic forcing of zooplankton dynamics is stronger during low densities of planktivorous fish

Leif Chr Stige; Dmitry L Lajus; Kung-Sik Chan; Padmini Dalpadado; Suennje L Basedow; Igor Berchenko; Nils Chr Stenseth

doi:10.4319/lo.2009.54.4.1025

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Climatic forcing of zooplankton dynamics is stronger during low densities of planktivorous fish

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Climatic forcing of zooplankton dynamics is stronger during low densities of planktivorous fish

Leif Chr Stige, Dmitry L Lajus, Kung-Sik Chan, Padmini Dalpadado, Suennje L Basedow, Igor Berchenko and Nils Chr Stenseth

Limnology and oceanography, Vol.54(4), pp.1025-1036

07/01/2009

DOI: 10.4319/lo.2009.54.4.1025

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Abstract

We analyze interannual variation in zooplankton biomass in the southwestern Barents Sea in spring (May) and summer (June-July) 1959-1993. Using a threshold modeling approach, we quantify spatial, climatic, and across-season autoregressive effects under contrasting regimes of low and high densities of planktivorous fish (capelin and herring). Main findings: (1) zooplankton biomass is mainly influenced by capelin feeding, first in the offshore parts of the western Barents Sea in spring and subsequently farther east and north in summer, whereas direct effects of herring are quantitatively less important; (2) effects of climate are stronger during the zooplankton increase phase in spring than in summer and are better predicted using the North Atlantic Oscillation index than using reconstructed sea surface temperature and Atlantic water influx; (3) regional anomalies in zooplankton biomass persist from spring to summer but not from summer to the subsequent spring, indicating that the observed fluctuations have little effect on next year's dynamics; and (4) effects of climatic variation and planktivorous fish interact: climatic (and autoregressive) effects are mainly evident when and where the effect of feeding is weak. Zooplankton dynamics thus appear to be under shifting top-down and climatic control, the relative importance of the two processes varying spatially, seasonally, and interannually.

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Limnology

Marine & Freshwater Biology

Oceanography

Physical Sciences

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Climatic forcing of zooplankton dynamics is stronger during low densities of planktivorous fish
Creators: Leif Chr Stige - University of Oslo
Dmitry L Lajus - St Petersburg University
Kung-Sik Chan - University of Iowa
Padmini Dalpadado - Institute of Marine Research
Suennje L Basedow - Univ Tromso, Norwegian Coll Fishery Sci, Tromso, Norway
Igor Berchenko - Murmansk Marine Biological Institute
Nils Chr Stenseth - University of Oslo
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Limnology and oceanography, Vol.54(4), pp.1025-1036
DOI: 10.4319/lo.2009.54.4.1025
ISSN: 0024-3590
eISSN: 1939-5590
Publisher: WILEY
Number of pages: 12
Grant note: Norwegian Research Council and Hydro U.S. National Science Foundation
Language: English
Date published: 07/01/2009
Academic Unit: Statistics and Actuarial Science; Radiology
Record Identifier: 9984257741602771

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