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Phenological changes in the Northwestern Mediterranean copepods Centropages typicus and Temora stylifera linked to climate forcing

  • Global Change Ecology
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Abstract

Planktonic copepods play a major role in the fluxes of matter and energy in the marine ecosystem, provide a biological pump of carbon into the deep ocean, and play a role in determining fish recruitment. Owing to such ecological considerations, it is essential to understand the role that climate might play in the interannual variability of these organisms and the mechanisms by which it could modify the ecosystem functioning. In this study, a causal chain of meteorological, hydrological and ecological processes linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was identified in the Ligurian Sea, Northwestern Mediterranean. The forcing by the NAO drives most of the hydro-climatic variability during winter and early spring. Subsequently, interannual and decadal changes of the dominant copepods Centropages typicus and Temora stylifera were significantly correlated to the state of the hydro-climatic signal and tightly coupled to the NAO. Direct and indirect effects whose influence promoted phenological changes in the two copepod populations drove the species’ responses to climatic forcing. Opposite responses of the analysed species were also highlighted by these results. While years characterized by the positive phase of the NAO leads to enhancement of the strength and the forward move of the C. typicus peak, they act negatively on the annual cycle of T. stylifera, the abundance of which drops twofold and the annual peak appears delayed in time. In contrast, low NAO years lead to high abundance of T. stylifera and a forward timing of its peak, and acts in turn negatively on the C. typicus annual cycle in both abundance (low) and timing (delayed). Owing to the synchronism between hydro-climatic conditions and the NAO, and the major role of these species in the pelagic ecosystem of the studied area, these results provide key elements for interpreting and forecasting decadal changes of planktonic populations in the Ligurian Sea.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Serge Dallot and the staff of the Laboratory of Oceanography of Villefranche, whose commitment in sampling and technical support have made possible the long-term survey used in this study. We gratefully thank Oliver Beck for contribution in C. typicus counts. This study was conducted as a part of the JCM’s PhD dissertation and supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT, México). We thank Prof. J. Dippner and an anonymous reviewer for constructive comments on the manuscript. This work is a contribution to the French IFB ‘Biodiversité et Changement Global’ programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Station Zoologique-BP 28, 06234, Villefranche-sur-mer, France

    Juan Carlos Molinero, Fréderic Ibanez & Paul Nival

  2. Ecosystem Complexity Research Group, Station Marine, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille CNRS - UMR 8013 ELICO, 28 avenue Foch, BP 80, 62930, Wimereux, France

    Juan Carlos Molinero & Sami Souissi

  3. Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Ocean Science Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 850, route de la Mer, P.O. Box 1000, Mont-Joli, Québec, Canada

    Marina Chifflet

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  1. Juan Carlos Molinero
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  2. Fréderic Ibanez
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  4. Marina Chifflet
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  5. Paul Nival
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Correspondence to Juan Carlos Molinero.

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Communicated by Roland Brandl

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Molinero, J.C., Ibanez, F., Souissi, S. et al. Phenological changes in the Northwestern Mediterranean copepods Centropages typicus and Temora stylifera linked to climate forcing. Oecologia 145, 640–649 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0130-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0130-4

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