Geographical distribution and seasonal and diel changes in the diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and North Sea

G Beaugrand,Ja Lindley,F Ibañez

doi:10.3354/meps219189

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 219:189-203 (2001) - doi:10.3354/meps219189 Geographical distribution and seasonal and diel changes in the diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and North Sea Grégory Beaugrand1,2,*, Frédéric Ibañez2, J. Alistair Lindley1 1Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, United Kingdom 2Observatoire Océanologique, Laboratoire d¹Océanologie Biologique et Écologie du Plancton Marin, BP 28, 06230 Villefranche sur mer, France *E-mail: gbea@wpo.nerc.ac.uk ABSTRACT: This paper examines spatial distribution in the pelagic diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, taking into account changes at seasonal and diel scales. Based on 40 yr of sampling by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, the diversity (as number of taxa) was estimated on a regular grid for each month and time of day. Principal components analysis (PCA) allowed spatial decomposition of diversity, detection of major seasonal and diel patterns, the location of regions where these occur, and finally the modelling of temporal changes at seasonal and diel scales. The results underline the importance of hydrography and topography in the regulation of pelagic diversity. By considering these abiotic factors and the characteristics of seasonal and diel changes in diversity, a partition of the North Atlantic and the North Sea is proposed. This demonstrates the importance of the warm North Atlantic Current and the continental slope currents and undercurrents along the European Continental Shelf. It is suggested that modification in the path or intensity of these currents could imply marked changes in the structure and functioning of ecosystems west and north of the British Isles. KEY WORDS: Pelagic diversity · Calanoid copepods · Spatial distribution · Seasonal variations · Diel changes · Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 219. Online publication date: September 10, 2001 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2001 Inter-Research.

Highlights

Knowledge about geographical distribution of plankton in the northern North Atlantic has been intensively documented from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey (Edinburgh Oceanographic Laboratory 1973)
This paper examines spatial distribution in the pelagic diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, taking into account changes at seasonal and diel scales
The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey is an upper-layer plankton monitoring programme in the North Atlantic and North Sea based on consistent methods of sampling and analysis of plankton since 1948 (Warner & Hays 1994)

Summary

Introduction

Knowledge about geographical distribution of plankton in the northern North Atlantic has been intensively documented from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey (Edinburgh Oceanographic Laboratory 1973). Examination of biodiversity at the scale of the North Atlantic should take into consideration that presentday geographic distribution patterns have been established at many scales (Angel 1997). Insolation variations at the Earth’s surface resulting from orbital forcing (e.g. Milankovitch cycles) have a large influence on the climate and may have played an important role in the origin of large-scale patterns in biodiversity (Crame 1993, Molfino 1994). These large-scale factors are probably responsible for the polar-tropical difference in the num-

Methods

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Conclusion