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Density-dependent mortality in an oceanic copepod population

Author

Listed:
  • M. D. Ohman

    (Station Zoologique
    University of California, San Diego)

  • H.-J. Hirche

    (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research)

Abstract

Planktonic copepods are primary consumers in the ocean and are perhaps the most numerous metazoans on earth. Secondary production by these zooplankton supports most food webs of the open sea, directly affecting pelagic fish populations and the biological pump of carbon into the deep ocean. Models of marine ecosystems are quite sensitive to the formulation of the term for zooplankton mortality1,2,3,4, although there are few data available to constrain mortality rates in such models. Here we present the first evidence for nonlinear, density-dependent mortality rates of open-ocean zooplankton. A high-frequency time series reveals that per capita mortality rates of eggs of Calanus finmarchicus Gunnerus are a function of the abundance of adult females and juveniles. The temporal dynamics of zooplankton populations can be influenced as much by time-dependent mortality rates as by variations in ‘bottom up’ forcing. The functional form and rates chosen for zooplankton mortality in ecosystem models can alter the balance of pelagic ecosystems1,2,3, modify elemental fluxes into the ocean's interior5, and modulate interannual variability in pelagic ecosystems6.

Suggested Citation

  • M. D. Ohman & H.-J. Hirche, 2001. "Density-dependent mortality in an oceanic copepod population," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6847), pages 638-641, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:412:y:2001:i:6847:d:10.1038_35088068
    DOI: 10.1038/35088068
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    Cited by:

    1. Kearney, Kelly A. & Stock, Charles & Aydin, Kerim & Sarmiento, Jorge L., 2012. "Coupling planktonic ecosystem and fisheries food web models for a pelagic ecosystem: Description and validation for the subarctic Pacific," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 237, pages 43-62.
    2. Chen, Bingzhang & Smith, S. Lan, 2018. "Optimality-based approach for computationally efficient modeling of phytoplankton growth, chlorophyll-to-carbon, and nitrogen-to-carbon ratios," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 385(C), pages 197-212.
    3. Mitra, Aditee, 2009. "Are closure terms appropriate or necessary descriptors of zooplankton loss in nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton type models?," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(5), pages 611-620.
    4. Eisenhauer, L. & Carlotti, F. & Baklouti, M. & Diaz, F., 2009. "Zooplankton population model coupled to a biogeochemical model of the North Western Mediterranean Sea ecosystem," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(21), pages 2865-2876.
    5. Chen, Bingzhang, 2022. "Thermal diversity affects community responses to warming," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 464(C).
    6. Record, N.R. & Pershing, A.J. & Maps, F., 2013. "Emergent copepod communities in an adaptive trait-structured model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 260(C), pages 11-24.
    7. Dur, Gaël & Jiménez-Melero, Raquel & Beyrend-Dur, Delphine & Hwang, Jiang-Shiou & Souissi, Sami, 2013. "Individual-based model of the phenology of egg-bearing copepods: Application to Eurytemora affinis from the Seine estuary, France," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 269(C), pages 21-36.

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