| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH | VOLUME 19 | NUMBER 6 | PAGES 675-691 | 1997
© Oxford University Press
research-article |
Mesozooplankton community structure and grazing impact in the region of the Subtropical Convergence south of Africa
Southern Ocean Group, Department of Zoology & Entomology, Rhodes University PO Box 94, Grahamstown 6140 Southern Ocean Group, Department of Zoology, University of Fort Hare Private Bag X 1314, Alice 5700, South Africa
Received on July 29, 1996; accepted on January 23, 1997
Mesozooplankton distribution and community structure in the region of the Subtropical Convergence (STC) south of Africa were investigated during the SAAMES III cruise in austral winter (June–July) 1993. Both the STC and an associated warm-core eddy (WCE) exhibited enhancements in zooplankton abundance, compared to the Subantarctic waters. Particularly, elevated zooplankton densities were found in the centre of the STC and in the region north of it as well as at the edge of the WCE. Copepods (mainly Pleuromamma abdominalis and Metridia lucens), euphausiids (Euphausia spinifera, E.similis and E.recurva), pteropods (Limacina spp.) and chaetognaths (Eukrohnia hamata and Sagitta spp.) dominated numerically and accounted for >60
of the mesozooplankton community. Both cluster and ordination analyses indicated the occurrence of two major plankton communities located north and south of the STC. These results confirm that the STC is one of the strongest regional zoogeographical barriers, but south of Africa, WCEs may represent the most important source of disturbance in the meso-/macroscale zonation of the zooplankton assemblages. The daily grazing impact of the epipelagic community was estimated to remove 
1–18 of phytoplankton standing stock and 20–165 of daily primary production. The highest rates of phytoplankton consumption were found in the centre of the STC and within the WCE, suggesting that the zooplankton assemblage transferred by the WCE may enhance substantially the mesoscale carbon flux in the Subantarctic zone south of Africa.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Calbet The trophic roles of microzooplankton in marine systems ICES J. Mar. Sci., April 1, 2008; 65(3): 325 - 331. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Blanco-Bercial, F. Alvarez-Marques, and J. A. Cabal Changes in the mesozooplankton community associated with the hydrography off the northwestern Iberian Peninsula ICES J. Mar. Sci., January 1, 2006; 63(5): 799 - 810. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J.-H. Kang, W.-S. Kim, K.-I. Chang, and J.-H. Noh Distribution of plankton related to the mesoscale physical structure within the surface mixed layer in the southwestern East Sea, Korea J. Plankton Res., December 1, 2004; 26(12): 1515 - 1528. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Huskin, R. Anadon, R. S. Woodd-Walker, and R. P. Harris Basin-scale latitudinal patterns of copepod grazing in the Atlantic Ocean J. Plankton Res., December 1, 2001; 23(12): 1361 - 1371. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Huskin, R. Anadon, G. Medina, R. N. Head, and R. P. Harris Mesozooplankton Distribution and Copepod Grazing in the Subtropical Atlantic Near the Azores: Influence of Mesoscale Structures J. Plankton Res., July 1, 2001; 23(7): 671 - 691. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P.W. Froneman, C.D. McQuaid, and R.K. Laubscher Size-fractionated primary production studies in the vicinity of the Subtropical Front and an adjacent warm-core eddy south of Africa in austral winter J. Plankton Res., November 1, 1999; 21(11): 2019 - 2035. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|