Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Temporal and Spatial Variability of Mesozooplankton in a Shallow Sub-Tropical Bay: Influence of Top-Down Control

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Quantifying the relationship between mesozooplankton and water quality parameters identifies the factors that structure the mesozooplankton community and can be used to generate hypotheses regarding the mechanisms that control the mesozooplankton population and potentially the trophic network. To investigate this relationship, mesozooplankton and water quality data were collected in Florida Bay from 1994 to 2004. Three key characteristics were found in the mesozooplankton community structure: (1) there are significant differences between the four sub-regions of Florida Bay; (2) there is a break in May of 1997 with significant differences before and after this date; and (3) there is a positive correlation between mesozooplankton abundance and salinity. The latter two characteristics are closely correlated with predator abundance, indicating the importance of top-down control. Hypersaline periods appear to provide a refuge from predators, allowing mesozooplankton to increase in abundance despite the increased physiological stress.

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.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, D. M., V. Ogburn-Matthews, T. Buck, and E. M. Smith. 2008. Mesozooplankton responses to climate change and variability in a southeastern US estuary (1981–2003). Journal of Coastal Research 95–110.

  • Baird, D., and R.E. Ulanowicz. 1989. The seasonal dynamics of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Ecological Monographs 59(4): 329–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand, G., and F. Ibanez. 2004. Monitoring marine plankton ecosystems. II: Long-term changes in North Sea calanoid copepods in relation to hydro-climatic variability. Marine Ecology Progress Series 284: 35–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand, G., and P.C. Reid. 2003. Long-term changes in phytoplankton, zooplankton, and salmon related to climate. Global Change Biology 9: 801–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer, J. N., and H. O., Briceno. 2008. FY2007 Annual Report of the South Florida Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Network. SFWMD/SERC Cooperative Agreement #4600000352, SERC Tech. Rep. T-351.

  • Boyer, J.N., J.W. Fourqurean, and R.D. Jones. 1997. Spatial characterization of water quality in Florida Bay and Whitewater Bay by multivariate analyses: zones of similar influence. Estuaries 20(4): 743–758.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer, J.N., J.W. Fourqurean, and R.D. Jones. 1999. Seasonal and long-term trends in the water quality of Florida Bay (1989–1997). Estuaries 22(2B): 417–430.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Briceno, H.O., and J.N. Boyer. 2008. Long-term monitoring of nutrient and chlorophyll a relationships in Florida Bay, 49. Orlando: Ocean Sciences Meeting.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browder, J.A., Z. Zein-Eldin, M.M. Criales, M.B. Robblee, S. Wong, T.L. Jackson, and D. Johnson. 2002. Dynamics of pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum) recruitment potential in relation to salinity and temperature in Florida Bay. Estuaries 25(6B): 1355–1371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brucet, S., D. Boix, S. Gascon, J. Sala, X.D. Quintana, A. Badosa, M. Sondergaard, T.L. Lauridsen, and E. Jeppesen. 2009. Species richness of crustacean zooplankton and trophic structure of brackish lagoons in contrasting climate zones: north temperate Denmark and Mediterranean Catalonia (Spain). Ecography 32(4): 692–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, M.J., J.H. Hunt, W.F. Herrnkind, M.J. Childress, R. Bertelsen, W. Sharp, T. Matthews, J.M. Field, and H.G. Marshall. 1995. Cascading disturbances in Florida Bay, USA: cyanobacteria blooms, sponge mortality, and implications for juvenile spiny lobsters Panulirus argus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 129(1–3): 119–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calliari, D., M.C.A. Borg, P. Thor, E. Gorokhova, and P. Tiselius. 2008. Instantaneous salinity reductions affect the survival and feeding rates of the co-occurring copepods Acartia tonsa Dana and A. clausi Giesbrecht differently. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 362(1): 18–25.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cervetto, G., R. Gaudy, and M. Pagano. 1999. Influence of salinity on the distribution of Acartia tonsa (Copepoda, Calanoida). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 239(1): 33–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K.R., and R.N. Gorley. 2006. PRIMER v6: user Manual/Tutorial. Plymouth: PRIMER-E Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K.R., and R.M. Warwick. 2001. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth: PRIMER-E Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dagg, M.J. 1995. Ingestion of phytoplankton by the microzooplankton and mesozooplankton communities in a productive subtropical estuary. Journal of Plankton Research 17(4): 845–857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagg, M.J., and J.J. Govoni. 1996. Is ichthyoplankton predation an important source of copepod mortality in subtropical coastal waters? Marine and Freshwater Research 47: 137–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, V., B. Sautour, P. Chardy, and M. Leconte. 2005. Long-term changes of the zooplankton variability in a turbid environment: the Gironde estuary (France). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 64(2–3): 171–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Alamo, M.A., and J. Farber-Lorda. 2006. Zooplankton and the oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific: a review. Progress in Oceanography 69(2–4): 318–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FFA. 2000. Florida Forever Act (FFA). Florida Statutes Chapter 259.105.

  • Fourqurean, J.W., and M.B. Robblee. 1999. Florida Bay: a history of recent ecological changes. Estuaries 22: 345–357.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fourqurean, J.W., R.D. Jones, and J.C. Zieman. 1993. Processes influencing water column nutrient characteristics and phosphorus limitation of phytoplankton biomass in Florida Bay, FL, USA—inferences from spatial distributions. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 36(3): 295–314.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greening, H., P. Doering, and C. Corbett. 2006. Hurricane impacts on coastal ecosystems. Estuaries and Coasts 29(6): 877–879.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, G.M., and S.H. Hurlbert. 1993. Microcosm analysis of salinity effects on coastal lagoon plankton assemblages. Hydrobiologia 267(1–3): 307–335.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, J. H., and W. K. Nuttle, eds. 2007. Florida Bay Science Program: a Synthesis of Research on Florida Bay. Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Technical Report TR-11.

  • Jurado, J.L., G.L. Hitchcock, and P.B. Ortner. 2007. Seasonal variability in nutrient and phytoplankton distributions on the southwest Florida inner shelf. Bulletin of Marine Science 80(1): 21–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keister, J.E., and W.T. Peterson. 2003. Zonal and seasonal variation in zooplankton community structure off the central Oregon coast, 1998–2000. Progress in Oceanography 57: 341–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelble, C.R., P.B. Ortner, G.L. Hitchcock, and J.N. Boyer. 2005. Attenuation of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) in Florida Bay: potential for light limitation of primary producers. Estuaries 28(4): 560–571.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelble, C.R., E.M. Johns, W.K. Nuttle, T.N. Lee, R.H. Smith, and P.B. Ortner. 2007. Salinity patterns of Florida Bay. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71(1–2): 318–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, D.G., and M.R. Roman. 2004. Long-term trends in mesozooplankton abundance in Chesapeake Bay, USA: influence of freshwater input. Marine Ecology Progress Series 267: 71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, D.G., W.D. Miller, and M.R. Roman. 2006a. Regional scale climate forcing of mesozooplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 29(3): 375–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, D.G., M.R. Roman, and X.S. Zhang. 2006b. Spatial and temporal variability in factors affecting mesozooplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay: evidence from biomass size spectra. Limnology and Oceanography 51(1): 131–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T.N., E. Williams, E. Johns, D. Wilson, and N.P. Smith. 2002. Transport processes linking south Florida coastal ecosystems. In The everglades, Florida Bay, and coral reefs of the Florida keys, ed. J.W. Porter and K.G. Porter. Boca Raton: CRC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T.N., E. Johns, N. Melo, R.H. Smith, P. Ortner, and D. Smith. 2006. On Florida Bay hypersalinity and water exchange. Bulletin of Marine Science 79(2): 301–327.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T.N., N. Melo, E. Johns, C. Kelble, R.H. Smith, and P. Ortner. 2008. On water renewal and salinity variability in the northeast subregion of Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science 82(1): 83–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legendre, P., and L. Legendre. 1998. Numerical ecology. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M., S. Jordan, C. Chancy, L. Harwell, L. Goodman, and R. Quarles. 2007. Summer fish community of the coastal northern Gulf of Mexico: characterization of a large-scale trawl survey. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 136(3): 829–845.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, J.G., and S.B. Brandt. 1993. Bay anchovy anchoa-mitchilli production and consumption in mid-Chesapeake Bay based on a bioenergetics model and acoustic measures of fish abundance. Marine Ecology Progress Series 98(3): 223–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mouny, P., and J.C. Dauvin. 2002. Environmental control of mesozooplankton community structure in the Seine estuary (English Channel). Oceanologica Acta 25(1): 13–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mowitt, W.P., E.D. Houde, D.C. Hinkle, and A. Sanford. 2006. Growth of planktivorous bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli, top-down control, and scale-dependence in estuarine mesocosms. Marine Ecology Progress Series 308: 255–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murrell, M.C., and E.M. Lores. 2004. Phytoplankton and zooplankton seasonal dynamics in a subtropical estuary: importance of cyanobacteria. Journal of Plankton Research 26(3): 371–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogden, J.C., and S.M. Davis (eds.). 1994. Everglades: the ecosystem and its restoration. Boca Raton: St. Lucie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, P. B., L. Hill, M. J. Dagg, J. Rabalais, and G. Thayer. 2001. Mesozooplankton abundance in Florida Bay (1994–1998). 195–196. Florida Bay Science Conference. Key Largo: University of Florida.

  • Paffenhofer, G.A. 1993. On the ecology of marine cyclopoid copepods (Crustacea, Copepoda). Journal of Plankton Research 15(1): 37–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, G.S., and H.G. Marshall. 2000. Estuarine relationships between zooplankton community structure and trophic gradients. Journal of Plankton Research 22(1): 121–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patoine, A., B. Pinel-Alloul, G. Methot, and M.J. Leblanc. 2006. Correspondence among methods of zooplankton biomass measurement in lakes: effect of community composition on optical plankton counter and size-fractionated seston data. Journal of Plankton Research 28(7): 695–705.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, B.J., C.M. Chester, F.J. Jochem, and J.W. Fourqurean. 2006. Potential role of sponge communities in controlling phytoplankton blooms in Florida Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 328: 93–103.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phlips, E.J., and S. Badylak. 1996. Spatial variability in phytoplankton standing crop and composition in a shallow inner-shelf lagoon, Florida Bay, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 58(1): 203–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phlips, E.J., T.C. Lynch, and S. Badylak. 1995. Chlorophyll-a, tripton, color, and light availability in a shallow tropical inner-shelf lagoon, Florida-Bay, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 127(1–3): 223–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piontkovski, S.A., T.D. O’Brien, S.F. Umani, E.G. Krupa, T.S. Stuge, K.S. Balymbetov, O.V. Grishaeva, and A.G. Kasymov. 2006. Zooplankton and the North Atlantic Oscillation: a basin-scale analysis. Journal of Plankton Research 28(11): 1039–1046.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, A. B., G. Thayer, M. Lacroix, and R. Cheshire. 2007. Juvenile and small resident fishes of Florida Bay, a critical habitat in the Everglades National Park, Florida. P. 210. NOAA Professional Paper NMFS 6.

  • Purcell, J.E. 1997. Pelagic cnidarians and ctenophores as predators: selective predation, feeding rates, and effects on prey populations. Annales de l’Institut oceanographique 73(2): 125–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putland, J.N., and R.L. Iverson. 2007. Ecology of Acartia tonsa in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, and implications of river water diversion. Marine Ecology Progress Series 340: 173–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reese, D.C., T.W. Miller, and R.D. Brodeur. 2005. Community structure of near-surface zooplankton in the northern California Current in relation to oceanographic conditions. Deep-Sea Research Part II—Topical Studies in Oceanography 52(1–2): 29–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, T.L., G.A. Jackson, and A.B. Burd. 2003. Planktonic food web dynamics in two contrasting regions of Florida Bay, US. Bulletin of Marine Science 73(3): 569–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roelke, D.L., P.M. Eldridge, and L.A. Cifuentes. 1999. A model of phytoplankton competition for limiting and nonlimiting nutrients: implications for development of estuarine and nearshore management schemes. Estuaries 22: 92–104.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roman, M., X. Zhang, C. McGilliard, and W. Boicourt. 2005. Seasonal and annual variability in the spatial patterns of plankton biomass in Chesapeake Bay. Limnology and Oceanography 50(2): 480–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schipp, G.R., J.M.P. Bosmans, and A.J. Marshall. 1999. A method for hatchery culture of tropical calanoid copepods, Acartia spp. Aquaculture 174(1–2): 81–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shoaf, W.T., and B.W. Lium. 1976. Improved extraction of chlorophyll a and b from algae using dimethyl sulfoxide. Limnology and Oceanography 21(6): 926–928.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swart, P.K., G.F. Healy, R.E. Dodge, P. Kramer, J.H. Hudson, R.B. Halley, and M.B. Robblee. 1996. The stable oxygen and carbon isotopic record from a coral growing in Florida Bay: a 160 year record of climatic and anthropogenic influence. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 123(1–4): 219–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swart, P.K., G. Healy, L. Greer, M. Lutz, A. Saied, D. Anderegg, R.E. Dodge, and D. Rudnick. 1999. The use of proxy chemical records in coral skeletons to ascertain past environmental conditions in Florida Bay. Estuaries 22(2B): 384–397.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, G.W., A.B. Powell, and D.E. Hoss. 1999. Composition of larval, juvenile, and small adult fishes relative to changes in environmental conditions in Florida Bay. Estuaries 2B: 518–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebe, P., J. Lenz, H.-R. Skjodal, M. Hutnley, and R. Harris. 2000. ICES Zooplankton Methodology Manual. New York: Academic.

  • Woodmansee, R.A. 1958. The seasonal distribution of zooplankton off Chicken Key in Biscayne Bay. Ecology 39(2): 247–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WRDA. 2000. Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Public Law 106–541 Title VI, Section 601.

  • Zhang, J. Z., and G. A. Berberian. 1997. Determination of dissolved silicate in estuarine and coastal waters by gas segmented continuous flow colorimetric analysis. EPA’s manual “Methods for the Determination of Chemical Substances in Marine and Estuarine Environmental Matrices”. EPA/600/R-97/072.

  • Zhang, J.Z., and J. Chi. 2002. Automated analysis of nanomolar concentrations of phosphate in natural waters with liquid waveguide. Environmental Science & Technology 36(5): 1048–1053.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. Z., P. B. Ortner, and C. J. Fischer. 1997a. Determination of nitrite and nitrate in estuarine and coastal waters by gas segmented continuous flow colorimetric analysis. EPA’s Manual “Methods for the Determination of Chemical Substances in Marine and Estuarine Environmental Matrices”. EPA/600/R-97/072.

  • Zhang, J. Z., P. B. Ortner, C. J. Fischer, and L. Moore. 1997b. Determination of ammonia in estuarine and coastal waters by gas segmented continuous flow colorimetric analysis. EPA’s Manual “Methods for the Determination of Chemical Substances in Marine and Estuarine Environmental Matrices”. EPA/600/R-97/072.

  • Zhang, X., M. Roman, D. Kimmel, C. McGilliard, and W. Boicourt. 2006. Spatial variability in plankton biomass and hydrographic variables along an axial transect in Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans 111(C5).

  • Zieman, J.C., J.W. Fourqurean, M.B. Robblee, M.J. Durako, P.R. Carlson, L.A. Yabro, and G.V.N. Powell. 1988. A catastrophic die-off of seagrasses in Florida Bay and Everglades National Park: extent, effect, and potential causes. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 69: 1111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zieman, J.C., J.W. Fourqurean, and T.A. Frankovich. 1999. Seagrass die-off in Florida Bay: long-term trends in abundance and growth of turtle grass, Thalassia testudinum. Estuaries 22(2B): 460–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was carried out under the auspices of the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), a Cooperative Institute of the University of Miami and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cooperative agreement #NA17RJ1226. We would like to thank E.M. Johns and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions in improving this manuscript. We are thankful for the assistance with respect to mesozooplankton enumeration provided by the late L. Hill, J. Rabalais, S. Haddad, and J. Appiot. We are also grateful for the field assistance provided by D. Forcucci, C. Fischer, G. Rawson, T. Kiesling, C. Featherstone, J. Judas, J. Absten, and C. Humphries and for the planktivorous fish data provided by M. Lacroix and A. Powell.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Christopher R. Kelble & Peter B. Ortner

  2. Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Gary L. Hitchcock

  3. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 8124 Highway 56, Chauvin, LA, 70344, USA

    Michael J. Dagg

  4. Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Joseph N. Boyer

Authors
  1. Christopher R. Kelble
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter B. Ortner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gary L. Hitchcock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael J. Dagg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Joseph N. Boyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher R. Kelble.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kelble, C.R., Ortner, P.B., Hitchcock, G.L. et al. Temporal and Spatial Variability of Mesozooplankton in a Shallow Sub-Tropical Bay: Influence of Top-Down Control. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 723–737 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9270-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9270-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation