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Seasonal relative influence of food quantity, quality, and feeding behaviour on zooplankton growth regulation in coastal food webs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

C.A. Vargas ,
R.A. Martínez ,
R. Escribano  and
N.A. Lagos
C.A. Vargas*
Affiliation:
Aquatic System Unit, Environmental Sciences Center EULA Chile, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile
R.A. Martínez
Affiliation:
Aquatic System Unit, Environmental Sciences Center EULA Chile, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile
R. Escribano
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography andCenter for Oceanographic Research in the Eastern South Pacific, Universidad de Concepción, P O Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile
N.A. Lagos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Básicas andCentro de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales (CIENCIA-UST), Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejercito 146, Santiago, Chile
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.A. Vargas, Aquatic System Unit, Environmental Sciences Center EULA Chile, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box 160-C, Concepción, Chile email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In aquatic food webs zooplankton constitutes an important link between primary producers and higher trophic levels. Copepods often dominate the zooplankton in coastal oceans and are the prey of the majority of planktivorous fish. Feeding behaviour, as well as the food quantity and quality are recognized factors that affect copepod growth, and therefore, the energy transfer efficiency throughout food webs. The natural occurrence and magnitude of these growth factors and their combined effects on marine copepods, as keystone grazers in the pelagic marine realm, are poorly understood. Here, we assessed how these different factors vary throughout the year, and then examine their relative influence upon copepods maximal growth rates. A multiple regression model, including all variables previously selected, and the inclusion of the sea temperature allowed us to estimate the pure influence of the studied factors, and the environmental effect on copepod growth rates. The results imply that ingestion of diatoms may induce a positive effect on specific growth rates of copepods, and the quality of this food item (high PUFA and HUFA availability) might explain such effect. Therefore, seasonal variability in diatom abundance, possibly driven by changes in the oceanographic regime, should be considered a critical factor controlling copepod growth in productive coastal ecosystems.

Keywords

food quantityfood qualityfatty acidsdiatomsdinoflagellateszooplankton growthfood websupwelling
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 6: In Honour of Sir Frederick Stratten Russell, FRS , September 2010 , pp. 1189 - 1201
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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