Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mesozooplankton community structure across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the north of South Georgia: Southern Ocean

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

During four summer seasons mesozooplankton community composition and structure in relation to water mass distribution were investigated along a 735-km transect running across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to the north-west of the island of South Georgia, Southern Ocean. Samples were obtained each year during December–January from the top 200 m of the water column at 22 stations spaced 35 km apart. Cluster analysis revealed four station groupings that were geographically consistent with the different water masses identified on the basis of temperature and salinity properties along the transect. A Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ) community characterised by low overall plankton abundance was present at the northernmost end of the transect on three of the four cruises, separated from a Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) community by the Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF). The PFZ community lay between the SAF and the Polar Front (PF) and was characterised by highest overall abundance and little interannual variability. Two Antarctic Zone (AAZ) communities were found south of the PF that, although taxonomically similar, differed in overall abundance. Although there were significant differences in nutrients (e.g. silicate) and phytoplankton (Chl a) between the different water masses, these factors only weakly correlated with plankton community structure. Copepods were the largest contributors to total abundance within all station groupings (median percentage 83–90% of total) and pteropods were also proportionately abundant in the PFZ (11%). With the exception of pteropods (≤11%) and ostracods (≤3%) all other non-copepod taxa contributed <1% to total abundance. All station groups were characterised by varying proportions of a relatively small subset of species, many of which were present throughout the transect, for example, Oithona similis, Ctenocalanus spp., Euchaeta antarctica, and Rhincalanus gigas. Others were particularly characteristic of different station groups, thus Neocalanus tonsus, Clausocalanus ingens, and Calocalanus spp. were characteristic of the SAZ with few in the PFZ and none in the AAZ. Microcalanus pygmaeus was particularly abundant in the AAZ compared to other regions, as was the polychaete, Pelagobia longicirrata. Other taxa, although widespread, tended to be typical of particular water masses, for example, Calanus simillimus and Limacina helicina in the PFZ, Calanoides acutus, appendicularians and P. longicirrata in the AAZ, and ostracods and chaetognaths in the SAZ. The close physical and biological coupling observed across the ACC confirms the frontal zones and particularly the PF as features across which community properties change in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean.

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.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arhan M, Naveira Garabata AC, Heywood KJ, Stevens DP (2002) The Antarctic Circumpolar Current between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. J Phys Oceanogr 32:1914–1931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A, Sinclair JD (2000) Zonal distribution and seasonal vertical migration of copepod assemblages in the Scotia Sea. Polar Biol 23:46–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A, Ward P, Peck JM, Murray AWA (1990) Mesoscale distribution of zooplankton around South Georgia. Deep-Sea Res 137:1213–1227

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A, Ward P, Hill A, Brierley AS, Cripps GC (1999) Krill–copepod interactions at South Georgia, Antarctica, II. Euphausia superba as a major control on copepod abundance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 176:63–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson A, Whitehouse MJ, Priddle J, Cripps GC, Ward P, Brandon MA (2001) South Georgia, Antarctica: a productive, cold water, pelagic ecosystem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 216:279–308

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G, Ibanez F, Lindley JA (2001) Geographical distribution and seasonal and diel changes in the diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and North Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 219:189–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Boltovskoy D, Gibbons MJ, Hutchings L, Binet D (1999) General biological features of the South Atlantic. In: Boltovskoy D (ed) South Atlantic zooplankton. Backhuys, Leiden, pp 1–42

  • Brandon MA, Murphy EJ, Trathan PN, Bone DG (2000) Physical oceanographic conditions to the northwest of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. J Geophys Res 105(C10):23983–23996

    Google Scholar 

  • Brierley AS, Watkins JL, Murray AWA (1997) Interannual variability in krill abundance at South Georgia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 150:87–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryden HL (1983) The Southern Ocean. In: Robinson AR (ed) Eddies in marine science. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 265–277

  • Chiba S, Ishimaru T, Hosie GW, Fukuchi M (2001) Spatio-temporal variability of zooplankton community structure off east Antarctica (90–160°E). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 216:95–108

    CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Colebrook JM (1991) Continuous plankton records: from seasons to decades in the plankton of the north-east Atlantic. In: Kawasaki T, Tanaka S, Toba Y, Taniguchi A (eds) Long-term variability of pelagic fish populations and their environments. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 70–76

  • Deacon GER (1982) Physical and biological zonation in the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Res 129:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Edinburgh Oceanographic Laboratory (1973) Continuous plankton records: a plankton atlas of the North Atlantic and the North Sea. Bull Mar Ecol 7:1–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Errhif A, Razouls C, Mayzaud P (1997) Composition and community structure of pelagic copepods in the Indian sector of the Antarctic Ocean during the end of the austral summer. Polar Biol 17:418–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field JG, Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1982) A practical strategy for analysing multispecies distribution. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 8:37–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Froneman PW, McQuaid CD, Perissinotto R (1995) Biogeographic structure of the microphytoplankton assemblages of the south Atlantic and Southern Ocean during austral summer. J Plankton Res 17:1791–1802

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon AL, Georgi DT, Taylor HW (1977) Antarctic Polar Front Zone in the western Scotia Sea—summer 1975. J Phys Oceanogr 7:309–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heywood RB, Everson I, Priddle J (1985) The absence of krill from the South Georgia zone, winter 1983. Deep-Sea Res 132:369–378

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosie GW (1994) The macroplankton communities in the Prydz Bay region, Antarctica. In: El-Sayed SZ (ed) Southern Ocean ecology: the BIOMASS perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 93–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt BPV, Pakhomov EA, McQuaid CD (2001) Short-term variation and long-term changes in the oceanographic environment and zooplankton community in the vicinity of a sub-Antarctic archipelago. Mar Biol 138:369–381

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Longhurst A (1998) Ecological geography of the sea. Academic Press, London

  • Lutjeharms JRE, Baker D Jr (1980) A statistical analysis of the mesoscale dynamics of the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Res 127:145–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutjeharms JRE, Walters NM, Allanson BR (1985) Oceanic frontal systems and biological enhancement. In: Siegfried WR, Condy PR, Laws RM (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–21

  • Mackintosh NA (1946) The Antarctic Convergence and the distribution of surface temperatures in Antarctic waters. Discovery Rep 23:177–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Meredith MP, Brandon MA, Trathan PN, Murphy EJ, Bone DG, Grant SD, Chernyshkov PP, Sushin VA (2003a) Variability in oceanographic conditions to the east and northwest of South Georgia 1996–2001. Prog Oceanog (in press)

  • Meredith MP, Watkins JL, Murphy EJ, Ward P, Bone DG, Thorpe Se, Grant SD (2003b) The Southern ACC Front to the northeast of South Georgia: pathways, characteristics and fluxes. J Geophys Res (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore JK, Abbott MR, Richman JG (1997) Variability in the location of the Antarctic Polar Front (90°–20°W) from satellite sea surface temperature data. J Geophys Res 102(C13):27825–27833

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore JK, Abbott MR, Richman JG (1999) Location and dynamics of the Antarctic Polar Front from satellite sea surface temperature data. J Geophys Res 104(C2):3059–3073

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orsi AH, Whitworth T III, Nowlin WD Jr (1995) On the meridional extent and fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Deep-Sea Res 142:641–673

    Google Scholar 

  • Pakhomov EA, McQuaid CD (1996) Distribution of surface zooplankton and seabirds across the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 16:271–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pakhomov EA, Verheye HM, Atkinson A, Laubscher RK, Taunton-Clark J (1997) Structure and grazing impact of the mesozooplankton community during late summer 1994 near South Georgia, Antarctica. Polar Biol 18:180–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pakhomov EA, Perissinotto R, McQuaid CR, Froneman PW (2000) Zooplankton structure and grazing in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean in late austral summer 1993 Part l. Ecological zonation. Deep-Sea Res 147:1663–1686

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons TR, Maita Y, Lalli CM (1984) A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford

  • Peterson RG, Whitworth T III (1989) The subantarctic and polar fronts in relation to the deep water masses through the southwestern Atlantic. J Geophys Res 94:10817–10838

    Google Scholar 

  • Priddle J, Croxall JP, Everson I, Heywood RB, Murphy EJ, Prince PA, Sear CB (1988) Large-scale fluctuation in the abundance and distribution of krill—a discussion of possible causes. In: Sahrhage D (ed) Antarctic Ocean and resources variability. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 169–182

  • Reid K, Croxall JP (2001) Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. Proc R Soc Lond Ser B 268:377–384

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roemmich D, McGowan J (1995) Climatic warming and the decline of zooplankton in the California Current. Science 267:1324–1326

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shreeve RS, Ward P, Whitehouse MJ (2002) Copepod growth and development around South Georgia: relationships with temperature, food and krill. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 233:169–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel V, Piatkowski U (1990) Variability in the macrozooplankton community off the Antarctic peninsula. Polar Biol 10:373–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Trathan PN, Brandon MA, Murphy EJ (2000) Transport and structure within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the north of South Georgia. Geophys Res Lett 27:1727–1730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trathan PN, Brierley AS, Brandon MA, Bone DG, Goss C, Grant S, Murphy EJ, Watkins JL (2003) Oceanographic variability and changes in Antarctic krill abundance at South Georgia. Fish Oceanogr (in press)

  • Tréguer P, Jacques G (1992) Dynamics of nutrients and phytoplankton, and fluxes of carbon, nitrogen and silicon in the Antarctic Ocean. Polar Biol 12:149–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Tréguer P, Pondaven P (2002) Climatic changes and the cycles of carbon in the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Res II 49:3103–3104

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward P, Shreeve RS (2001) The deep-sea copepod fauna of the Southern Ocean: patterns and processes. In: Lopes RM, Reid JW, Rocha CEF (eds) Copepoda: developments in ecology, biology and systematics. Hydrobiologia 453/454:37–54

  • Ward P, Whitehouse M, Meredith MP, Murphy EJ, Shreeve RS, Korb R, Watkins JL, Thorpe SE, Woodd–Walker RS, Brierley A, Cunningham N, Grant SD, Bone DG (2003a) The Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current: physical and biological coupling at South Georgia. Deep-Sea Res I 49:2183–2202

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward P, Grant S, Brandon MA, Siegel V, Sushin V, Loeb V, Griffiths H (2003b) Mesozooplankton community structure in the Scotia Sea during the CCAMLR survey: January–February 2000. (Special issue CCAMLR 2000 survey) Deep-Sea Res II (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse MJ (1997) Automated seawater nutrient chemistry. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge

  • Whitehouse MJ, Symon C, Priddle J (1993) Variations in the distribution of chlorophyll a and inorganic nutrients around South Georgia. Antarctic Sci 5:367–376

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse MJ, Priddle J, Trathan PN, Brandon MA (1996a) Substantial open-ocean phytoplankton blooms to the north of South Georgia, South Atlantic during summer 1994. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 140:187–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse MJ, Priddle J, Symon C (1996b) Seasonal and annual change in seawater temperature, salinity, nutrient and chlorophyll a distributions around South Georgia, South Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res 143:425–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse MJ, Priddle J, Brandon MA (2000) Chlorophyll/nutrient characteristics in the water masses to the north of South Georgia, Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 23:373–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodd–Walker RS, Ward P, Clarke A (2002) Large-scale patterns in diversity and community structure of surface water copepods from the Atlantic Ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 236:189–203

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the officers and crew onboard R.R.S. "James Clark Ross" for their help in the successful completion of this project. The many colleagues who participated in the collection of various data sets along the transect are also gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    P. Ward, M. Whitehouse, R. Shreeve & R. Woodd-Walker

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    M. Brandon

Authors
  1. P. Ward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Whitehouse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Brandon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Shreeve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Woodd-Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Ward.

Additional information

Communicated by J.P. Thorpe, Port Erin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ward, P., Whitehouse, M., Brandon, M. et al. Mesozooplankton community structure across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to the north of South Georgia: Southern Ocean. Marine Biology 143, 121–130 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1019-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1019-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation