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Distribution and abundance of mesozooplankton in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

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Abstract

Zooplankton (meso- and macrozooplankton) distributions and biomass are poorly known in the Ross Sea despite their importance in energy transfer within food webs and biogeochemical cycles. Mesozooplankton abundance and biomass on the continental shelf are spatially variable and span two orders of magnitude during austral summer. Selected sub-regions (near the shelf break or ice shelf) show similar variability, suggesting that other processes, either oceanographic or biological, influence zooplankton on smaller scales. Biomass at one location (76.5° S, 172° E) was consistently elevated throughout January, although the causes of this “hotspot” were unclear. At a station near the ice shelf, abundance and biomass of the pteropod Limacina antarctica was very high. Zooplankton biomass at this location was sevenfold greater than any other station, and while the high biomass was driven by pteropod contributions, copepods were also abundant. Copepods dominated the mesozooplankton composition at all other stations, comprising 90 and 78% on average of the total abundance and biomass. Zooplankton biomass comprised on average 3.96% of the total particulate carbon (0–200 m) and was weakly correlated with chlorophyll and biogenic silica. We suggest that summer zooplankton growth and biomass, while linked to organic matter concentrations, are regulated by other factors (e.g., predation by crystal krill and Antarctic silverfish), as both grazers may be responsible for significant losses. Our data indicate that, contrary to other suggestions, summer zooplankton biomass and abundance in the Ross Sea are similar to those in other Antarctic coastal regions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (ANT-0944254 and ANT-1443258). We thank all of our PRISM colleagues who assisted in sampling: H. Doan, S. Charles, P. St. Laurent, and A. Mosby. Dr. J. Stone provided assistance with the Zooscan, and J. Cope confirmed many of our zooplankton identifications. This is VIMS contribution number 3642.

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  1. Erin Spencer

    Present address: Ocean Conservancy, 1300 19th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, Gloucester Pt., VA, 23062, USA

    Walker O. Smith, Liza M. Delizo, Courtney Herbolsheimer & Erin Spencer

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  1. Walker O. Smith
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Correspondence to Walker O. Smith.

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Smith, W.O., Delizo, L.M., Herbolsheimer, C. et al. Distribution and abundance of mesozooplankton in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biol 40, 2351–2361 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2149-5

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