Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Estimated copepod production rate and structure of mesozooplankton communities in the coastal Barents Sea during summer–autumn 2007

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The southern Barents Sea is considered to be the most productive area in the Arctic Ocean; however, there are no assessments of daily production rates in the coastal waters. During the summer and autumn of 2007, we investigated the variation of mesozooplankton community structure relative to environmental conditions at 12 coastal stations. Copepods dominated the total zooplankton biomass and abundance during both periods. Diversity indices and the total biomass of zooplankton communities differed significantly between the two seasons. Cluster analyses revealed two distinct groups of stations which were associated with Ura Bay and the adjacent open sea, respectively. Daily production rates of the copepod species examined were calculated using three methods based on: (1) a temperature-dependent equation and (2) two multiple regressions that consider temperature, body weight, and chlorophyll a concentration. Significant seasonal differences for daily production rates were found using all three model equations (p < 0.05): 358 ± 188–1,775 ± 791 versus 198 ± 85–1,584 ± 559 μg dry mass m−3 day−1. Results of principal components analyses demonstrated that the abundance and biomass of herbivorous species were related to variation in chlorophyll a concentration while the abundance and biomass of other species (omnivorous copepods and Ctenophora) were related mainly with water temperature and salinity. Mesozooplankton biomass was higher during this study relative to previous studies. Computed copepod production rates were higher compared with other Arctic seas confirming a high productive potential of the coastal southern Barents Sea.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arashkevich EG, Wassmann P, Pasternak A, Wexels Riser C (2002) Seasonal and spatial changes in biomass, structure, and development progress of the zooplankton community in the Barents Sea. J Mar Syst 38:125–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auel H, Hagen W (2002) Mesozooplankton community structure, abundance and biomass in the central Arctic Ocean. Mar Biol 140:1013–1021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basedow SL, Eiane K, Tverberg V, Spindler M (2004) Advection of zooplankton in an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 60:113–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blachowiak-Samolyk K, Kwasniewski S, Dmoch K, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S (2007) Trophic structure of zooplankton in the Fram Strait in spring and autumn 2003. Deep Sea Res II 54:2716–2728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blachowiak-Samolyk K, Kwasniewski S, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S (2008) Magnitude of mesozooplankton variability: a case study from the Marginal Ice Zone of the Barents Sea in spring. J Plankton Res 30:311–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bray JR, Curtis JT (1957) An ordination of the upland forest of southern Wisconsin. Ecol Monogr 27:225–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castellani C, Irigoien X, Mayor DJ, Harris RP, Wilson D (2008) Feeding of Calanus finmarchicus and Oithona similis on the microplankton assemblage in the Irminger Sea. North Atlantic J Plankton Res 30:1095–1116

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chislenko LL (1968) Nomogrammes to determine weights of aquatic organisms based on the size and form of their bodies (marine mesobenthos and plankton) (in Russian). Nauka Press, Leningrad

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1994) Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, NERC, Plymouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Coyle KO, Pinchuk AI (2005) Seasonal cross-shelf distribution of major zooplankton taxa on the northern Gulf of Alaska shelf relative to water mass properties, species depth preferences and vertical migration behavior. Deep Sea Res II 52:217–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daase M, Eiane K (2007) Mesozooplankton distribution in northern Svalbard waters in relation to hydrography. Polar Biol 30:969–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG (2011) Distribution of Calanus species off Franz Josef Land (Arctic Barents Sea). Polar Sci 5:361–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009a) Life cycle of Oithona similis (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) in Kola Bay (Barents Sea). Mar Biol 156:1433–1446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009b) Morphological plasticity in the small copepod Oithona similis in the Barents and White Seas. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 385:165–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009c) Spatial variations in reproductive characteristics of the small copepod Oithona similis in the Barents Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 386:133–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009d) Summer mesozooplankton distribution near Novaya Zemlya (eastern Barents Sea). Polar Biol 32:719–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009e) Summer mesozooplankton structure in the Pechora Sea (south-eastern Barents Sea). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 84:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2009f) Summer production of copepods in the Barents Sea. Dokl Biol Sci 428:451–453

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dvoretsky VG, Dvoretsky AG (2011) Copepod communities off Franz Josef Land (northern Barents Sea) in late summer of 2006 and 2007. Polar Biol 34:1231–1238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellingsen IH, Dalpadado P, Slagstad D, Loeng H (2008) Impact of climatic change on the biological production in the Barents Sea. Clim Change 87:155–175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Falk-Petersen S, Timofeev S, Pavlov V, Sargent JR (2007) Climate variability and possible effects on arctic food chains: the role of Calanus. In: Orbok JB, Tombre T, Kallenborn R, Hegseth E, Falk-Petersen S, Hoel AH (eds) Arctic alpine ecosystems and people in a changing environment. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 147–166

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fomin OK (1978) Some temporal characteristics of zooplankton in the coastal Murman waters. In: Bryazgin VF (ed) Regularities of biological production in the Barents Sea (in Russian). Kola Branch AS USSR Press, Apatity, pp 72–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanssen H (1997) Mesozooplankton of the Laptev Sea and the adjacent eastern Nansen Basin-distribution and community structure in late summer. Ber Polarforsch 229:1–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays GC, Richardson AJ, Robinson C (2005) Climate change and marine plankton. Trends Ecol Evol 20:337–344

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirche HJ, Mumm N (1992) Distribution of dominant copepods in the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean, in summer. Deep Sea Res 39(Suppl. 2):485–505

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirche HJ, Kosobokova KN, Gaye-Haake B, Harms I, Meon B, Nöthig EM (2006) Structure and function of contemporary food webs on Arctic shelves: a panarctic comparison: the pelagic system of the Kara Sea—Communities and components of carbon flow. Prog Oceanogr 71:288–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirst AG, Bunker AJ (2003) Growth of marine planktonic copepods: global rates and patterns in relation to chlorophyll a, temperature, and body weight. Limnol Oceanogr 48:1988–2010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirst AG, Lampitt RS (1998) Towards a global model of in situ weight-specific growth in marine planktonic copepods. Mar Biol 132:247–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hop H, Falk-Petersen S, Svendsen H, Kwasniewski S, Pavlov V, Pavlova O, Søreide JE (2006) Physical and biological characteristics of the pelagic system across Fram Strait to Kongsfjorden. Prog Oceanogr 71:182–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopcroft RR, Clarke C, Nelson RJ, Raskoff KA (2005) Zooplankton communities of the Arctic’s Canada Basin: the contribution by smaller taxa. Polar Biol 28:198–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins CCE (1981) Ecological investigations on the zooplankton community of Balsfjorden, northern Norway: changes in zooplankton abundance and biomass in relation to phytoplankton and hydrography, March 1976–February 1977. Kiel Meeresforsch 5:124–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt GLJ, Burgeson B, Sanger GA (1981) Feeding ecology of seabirds of the eastern Bering Sea. In: Hood DWC (ed) The eastern Bering Sea shelf: oceanography and resources. Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, pp 629–647

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley M, Lopez MDG (1992) Temperature-dependent production of marine copepods: a global synthesis. Am Nat 140:201–242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huse G, Toresen R (1996) A comparative study of the feeding habits of herring (Clupea harengus, Clupeidae, L.) and capelin (Mallotus villosus, Osmeridae, Müller) in the Barents Sea. Sarsia 81:143–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein Breteler WCM, Fransz HG, Gonzales SR (1982) Growth and development of four calanoid copepod species under experimental and natural conditions. Neth J Sea Res 16:195–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuznetsov LL (1992) Phytoplankton of the Barents Sea. KSC RAS Press, Apatity

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane PVZ, Llinás L, Smith SL, Pilz D (2008) Zooplankton distribution in the western Arctic during summer 2002: hydrographic habitats and implications for food chain dynamics. J Mar Syst 70:97–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez MDG, Huntley ME (1995) Feeding and diel vertical migration cycles of Metridia gerlachei (Giesbrecht) in coastal waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 15:21–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzen CJ, Jeffrey SW (1980) Determination of chlorophyll in sea water. UNESCO Tech Pap Mar Sci 35:3–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen SD, Nielsen TG, Hansen BW (2001) Annual population development and production by Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus in Disko Bay, western Greenland. Mar Biol 139:75–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madsen SD, Nielsen TG, Hansen BW (2008) Annual population development of small sized copepods in Disko Bay. Mar Biol 155:63–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makarevich PR, Larionov VV, Druzhkov NV (1991) Average cell weights of the mass phytoplankton species of the Barents Sea. KSC RAS Press, Apatity

    Google Scholar 

  • Matishov GG (ed) (2008) Report. Engineering-ecological researches to the project of Shtokman deposit development (in Russian). MMBI, Murmansk

  • Matishov G, Zuyev A, Golubev V, Adrov N, Timofeev S, Karamusko O, Pavlova L, Fadyakin O, Buzan A, Braunstein A, Moiseev D, Smolyar I, Locarnini R, Tatusko R, Boyer T, Levitus S (2004) Climatic atlas of the Arctic Seas 2004: part I. Database of the Barents, Kara, Laptev, and White Seas—Oceanography and Marine Biology. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 58. US Government Printing Office, Washington

  • Matishov GG, Matishov DG, Moiseev DV (2009) Inflow of Atlantic-origin waters to the Barents Sea along glacial troughs. Oceanologia 51:321–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melle W, Skjoldal HR (1998) Reproduction and development of Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus in the Barents Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:211–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Møller EF, Nielsen TG, Richardson K (2006) The zooplankton community in the Greenland Sea: composition and role in carbon turnover. Deep Sea Res I 53:76–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumm N (1991) Zur sommerlichen Verteilung des Mesozooplanktons im Nansen-Becken, Nordpolarmeer. Ber Polarforsch 92:1–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen TG, Andersen CM (2002) Plankton community structure and production along a freshwater influenced Norwegian fjord system. Mar Biol 141:707–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen TG, Møller EF, Satapoomin S, Ringuette M, Hopcroft RR (2002) Egg hatching rate of the cyclopoid copepod Oithona similis in arctic and temperate waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 236:301–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omori M (1969) Weight and chemical composition of some important oceanic zooplankton in the North Pacific Ocean. Mar Biol 3:4–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Orlova EL, Boitsov VD, Dolgov AV, Rudneva GB, Nesterova VN (2005) The relationship between plankton, capelin, and cod under different temperature conditions. ICES J Mar Sci 62:1281–1292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen SA, Ribergaard MH, Simonsen CS (2005) Micro- and mesozooplankton in Southwest Greenland waters in relation to environmental factors. J Marine Syst 56:85–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pepin P, Penney R (2000) Feeding by a larval fish community: impact on zooplankton. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 204:199–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pertsova NM, Kosobokova KN (2003) Zooplankton of the White Sea: features of the composition and structure, seasonal dynamics, and the contribution to the formation of matter fluxes. Oceanology 43(Suppl 1):S108–S122

    Google Scholar 

  • Pielou EC (1966) The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. J Theor Biol 13:131–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Primakov IM, Berger VYa (2007) Production of planktonic crustaceans in the White Sea. Russ J Mar Biol 33:305–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymont JEG (1983) Plankton and productivity in the ocean, 2. Zooplankton. 2nd edn. Pergamon Press, Oxford, NY

  • Rey F (1981) The development of the spring phytoplankton outburst at selected sites off the Norwegian coast. In: Sætre R, Mork M (eds) The Norwegian Coastal Current. University of Bergen, Bergen, pp 649–680

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter C (1994) Regional and seasonal variability in the vertical distribution of mesozooplankton in the Greenland Sea. Ber Polarforsch 154:1–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Runge JA, Ingram RG (1991) Under-ice feeding and diel migration by the planktonic copepods Calanus glacialis and Pseudocalanus minutus in relation to the ice algal production cycle. Mar Biol 108:217–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabatini M, Kiørboe T (1994) Egg production, growth and development of the cyclopoid copepod Oithona similis. J Plankton Res 16:1329–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakshaug E, Johnsen G, Kovacs K (eds) (2009) Ecosystem Barents Sea. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim

    Google Scholar 

  • Sastri AR, Dower JF (2009) Interannual variability in chitobiase-based production rates of the crustacean zooplankton community in the Strait of Georgia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 388:147–157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sastri AR, Nelson RJ, Varela DE, Young KV, Wrohan I, Williams WJ (2012) Variation of chitobiase-based estimates of crustacean zooplankton production rates in high latitude waters. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 414–415:54–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Satapoomin S (1999) Carbon content of some common tropical Andaman Sea copepods. J Plankton Res 21:2117–2123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SBE 19plus SEACAT PROFILER (2005) User Manual, Version 012. Sea-Bird Electronics, Washington

  • Schauer U, Loeng H, Rudels B, Ozhigin VK, Dieck W (2002) Atlantic water flow through the Barents and Kara Seas. Deep Sea Res I 49:2281–2298

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon CB, Weaver W (1963) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana

    Google Scholar 

  • Skjoldal HR, Hopkins CCE, Erikstad KE, Leinaas HP (eds) (1995) Ecology of fjords and coastal waters. in: Proceedings of the Mare Nor Symposium on the ecology of fjords and coastal waters, Tromso, Norway, 5–9 December, 1994. Elsevier, Amsterdam

  • Timofeev SF (2000) Ecology of the marine zooplankton (in Russian). Murmansk State Pedagogical Institute Press, Murmansk

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner J, Overland J (2009) Contrasting climate change in the two polar regions. Polar Res 28:146–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vinogradov ME, Shushkina EA (1987) Function of plankton communities in epipelagic zone of the ocean (in Russian). Nauka Press, Moscow

    Google Scholar 

  • Wassmann P, Reigstad M, Haug T, Rudels B, Carroll ML, Hop H, Gabrielsen GW, Falk-Petersen S, Denisenko SG, Arashkevich E, Slagstad D, Pavlova O (2006) Food webs and carbon flux in the Barents Sea. Prog Oceanogr 71:232–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webber MK, Roff JC (1995) Annual biomass and production of the oceanic copepod community off Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Mar Biol 123:481–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical Analysis, 4th edn. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Zenkevich LA (1963) Biology of Seas of the USSR. George Allen and Unwin, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues and the crew of RV Dalnie Zelentsy for their help during sampling. We also acknowledge Dr. Denis V. Moiseev for CTD data. We are most grateful to Dr. Akash R. Sastri (Department of Biology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Canada) for helpful suggestions and a revision of the English text of this paper. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their suggestions on manuscript revision.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Murmansk Marine Biological Institute (MMBI), Vladimirskaya St. 17, Murmansk, 183010, Russia

    Vladimir G. Dvoretsky & Alexander G. Dvoretsky

Authors
  1. Vladimir G. Dvoretsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexander G. Dvoretsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vladimir G. Dvoretsky.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dvoretsky, V.G., Dvoretsky, A.G. Estimated copepod production rate and structure of mesozooplankton communities in the coastal Barents Sea during summer–autumn 2007. Polar Biol 35, 1321–1342 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1175-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1175-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation