Mesozooplankton metabolism and feeding in the NW Iberian upwelling

Abstract

Mesozooplankton size-fractionated biomass, feeding, and metabolic rates were investigated during a cruise conducted off NW Spain in August 1998. Based on different hydrographic conditions observed throughout the study area (upwelling events nearshore and stratified waters offshore), the sampling area was divided into coastal and oceanic zones. Both phytoplankton and mesozooplankton biomass were higher in the coastal upwelling than in the offshore zone. Size structure analysis shows that the small fraction (200–500 μm) of mesozooplankton was more important than the larger fractions (500–1000 μm and >1000 μm) in the open ocean in terms of both biomass and grazing activity. The relationship between copepod ingestion rate and the concentration of chlorophyll a >5 μm resembled a type II functional response. Saturation occurred at the coastal stations, where copepod gut contents were highest. The grazing impact on both phytoplankton biomass and primary production seemed to be higher offshore (5.7 and 12.9%, respectively) than in upwelled waters (5.2 and 5.2%), although the differences were not statistically significant. Phytoplankton ingestion was enough to fulfil the basal metabolism of mesozooplankton in the upwelling area (102.1% of the minimum carbon requirements met) but not in the offshore (45.9%). Feeding activity and metabolic measurements on mesozooplankton point to a herbivorous food web in the coastal upwelling zone and a multivorous food web in the stratified open oceanic waters. The amount of metabolic end products released by mesozooplankton was higher in the coastal zone, but mesozooplankton played a more important role as nutrient regenerators in the multivorous food web (30.3 and 21.7% of the nitrogen and phosphorus phytoplankton demand accounted for ammonium and phosphate excretion, respectively) than in the herbivorous one (3.8% for ammonium and 2.6% for phosphate).