Temporal variation in copepod abundance and composition in a strong, persistent coastal upwelling zone

Abstract

Zooplankton abundance and species composition provide information on environmental variability in the ocean. While zooplankton time series span the west coast of North America, less data exist off north-central California. Here, we investigated a zooplankton time series, focusing specifically on copepods, collected within the Gulf of the Farallones–Cordell Bank area (37.5° to 38.5°N) from 2004 to 2009. Impacted by seasonally strong, persistent upwelling, this study area is located downstream of a major upwelling center (Point Arena). We found copepod abundance and species composition differed significantly, particularly between the first three years (2004–2006) and the latter three years (2007–2009) of the study. These changes were mainly observed as changes in abundance of boreal copepod species, Pseudocalanus mimus and Acartia longiremis. These taxa showed increasing abundances for the latter three years of the study (2007–2009). During the first three years of the time series, environmental measurements in the region showed lower alongshore wind stress, weaker upwelling, minimal surface alongshore flow, and warmer surface ocean temperatures. Temporal variations in copepod abundance and species composition correlated with several of these environmental measurements (e.g., surface cross-shore and alongshore flows, upwelling, and alongshore wind stress), indicating environmental forcing of primary consumers and ecosystem productivity in this strong, persistent upwelling zone.