Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux

Abstract

Crustacean zooplankton, often dominated by copepods and euphausiids, are the major phytoplankton grazers in coastal upwelling systems. It has been argued that grazing by zooplankton is a size-dependent process, such that models incorporating the size structure of zooplankton are appropriate for describing herbivore C-transfer. Here, b ased on the size-spectrum theory and on gut-fluorescence experiments, conducted with numerically dominant copepods from two upwelling sites off the Chilean coast , we show that C-specific ingestion rates of copepods are size-dependent. We further show that the size structure of the copepod community, synthesized by the slope of the normalized size spectrum, determines the impact of grazing on phytoplankton. C-specific ingestion rates, depending on species size, were in the range of 0.02-8.40 (µg C x µg C -1 d -1 ). A modelled normalized biomass-spectra of a copepod community in the size range of 0.5 to 74.0 µg C showed that C-specific grazing impact can increase by a factor of 4 when small-sized species (0.1-10 µg C indiv -1 ), such as Paracalanus cf. indicus , Acartia tonsa , Oncaea spp. and Corycaeus spp., dominate the community in terms of biomass. By contrast, when larger-sized copepods dominate (10-100 µg C indiv -1 ), such as Calanus chilensis , Calanoides patagoniensis and Rhyncalanus nasutus , total zooplankton biomass may increase, but with a sharp decrease in the efficiency of C transfer via herbivores. Our findings indicate that processes affecting the size structure of zooplankton communities can substantially impact on phytoplankton C flux through the pelagic food web, thus controlling production of higher trophic levels.