Composition, structure and productivity of neritic plankton communities near the bird colonies of the northern shores of Novaya Zemlya

Abstract

A survey was made of coastal waters around the colonies of Arctic sea birds, which showed that such zones are highly productive. The mean biomass (standing stock) of crustacean plankton for the whole water column varied from 470 to 670 mg/m3 in separate transects, its maxium value reaching 1950 mg/m3. A list of species is given. Dominance hierarchy among the species is clearly expressed. The stable discrete structure of the community is assured by the spatial disjunction of dominant-form populations and the existence of the latter as relatively isolated aggregations. The conclusions arrived at are based on the materials of net hauls and analyses of the food of planktophageous birds (Plotus alle, family Alcidae). Favourable hydrological factors in conjunction with the fertilization of water with bird guano assure the stability of this neritic community with its multiplicity of interrelationships between producers and consumers of the first and second trophic levels, existing under the rigorous conditions of an ice-covered region.