| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6388782 | Progress in Oceanography | 2013 | 15 Pages |
The short-term, meso-scale variability of the mesozooplankton community present in the coastal upwelling system of the RÃa de Vigo (NW Spain) has been analysed. Three well-defined communities were identified: coastal, frontal and oceanic, according to their holoplankton-meroplankton ratio, richness, and total abundance. These communities changed from summer to autumn due to a shift from downwelling to upwelling-favourable conditions coupled with taxa dependent changes in life strategies. Relationships between the resemblance matrix of mesozooplankton and the resemblance matrices of meteorologic, hydrographic and community-derived biotic variables were determined with distance-based linear models (DistLM, 18 variables), showing an increasing amount of explained variability of 6%, 16.1% and 54.5%, respectively. A simplified model revealed that the variability found in the resemblance matrix of mesozooplankton was mainly described by the holoplankton-meroplankton ratio, the total abundance, the influence of lunar cycles, the upwelling index and the richness; altogether accounting for 64% of the total variability. The largest variability of the mesozooplankton resemblance matrix (39.6%) is accounted by the holoplankton-meroplankton ratio, a simple index that describes appropriately the coastal-ocean gradient. The communities described herein kept their integrity in the studied upwelling and downwelling episodes in spite of the highly advective environment off the RÃa de Vigo, presumably due to behavioural changes in the vertical position of the zooplankton.
⺠Coastal, frontal and oceanic mesozooplankton communities were identified in the RÃa de Vigo. ⺠These communities changed from summer to autumn coupled with the seasonal shift in the wind regime. ⺠Community structure was better explained by biotic than oceanographic variables. ⺠Holoplankton/meroplankton ratio was the best predictor of the community structure.
