Abstract
Abstract. Here we present a new, pan-North-Atlantic compilation of data on key mesozooplankton species, including the most important copepod, Calanus finmarchicus. Distributional data of eight representative zooplankton taxa, from recent (2000–2009) Continuous Plankton Recorder data, are presented, along with basin-scale data of the phytoplankton colour index. Then we present a compilation of data on C. finmarchicus, including observations of abundance, demography, egg production and female size, with accompanying data on temperature and chlorophyll. This is a contribution by Canadian, European and US scientists and their institutions: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.820732, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.824423, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.828393 (please also see Melle et al., 2013; Castellani and Licandro, 2013; Jónasdóttir et al., 2014).
Highlights
In this ESSD we present recent spatial distribution data, based on Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) observations (Beaugrand, 2004) for key meso- and macrozooplankton taxa in the northern North Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1a)
The key zooplankton taxa collated here are the copepods Calanus finmarchicus, C. helgolandicus, C. hyperboreus, Pseudocalanus spp. and Oithona spp., the gastropod Thecosomata species, the euphausid species, and the gelatinous zooplankton in the phylum Cnidaria. These taxa are representative of the most important multicellular zooplankton groups in the northern North Atlantic based on their abundance and on the roles they play within food webs and biogeochemical cycles
C. finmarchicus is the subject of over 1000 research articles since the revised edition of Marshall and Orr’s book (1972), and it has been the target species of several previous basin-scale research programs, including Investigations of C. finmarchicus migrations between oceanic and shelf seas off northwest Europe (ICOS: e.g. Heath et al, 1999), Trans Atlantic Studies of Calanus finmarchicus (TASC: e.g. Tande and Miller, 2000) and the Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics program (GLOBEC: e.g. Gifford et al, 2010), as well as the ongoing EURO-BASIN program
Summary
In this ESSD we present recent spatial distribution data, based on Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) observations (Beaugrand, 2004) for key meso- and macrozooplankton taxa in the northern North Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1a). The key zooplankton taxa collated here are the copepods Calanus finmarchicus, C. helgolandicus, C. hyperboreus, Pseudocalanus spp. and Oithona spp., the gastropod Thecosomata species, the euphausid species, and the gelatinous zooplankton in the phylum Cnidaria. These taxa are representative of the most important multicellular zooplankton groups in the northern North Atlantic based on their abundance and on the roles they play within food webs and biogeochemical cycles (see Melle et al, 2014, for more details). By compiling cross-basin North Atlantic data sets, we aim to build the foundation for ongoing and future research on the influence of habitat change, including climate forcing, on the distribution and abundance of this species
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