JPR Advance Access originally published online on August 20, 2004
Journal of Plankton Research 2004 26(12):1409-1418; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbh132
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Journal of Plankton Research Vol. 26 No. 12 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved
Zooplankton in the Ligurian Sea: Part I. Characterization of their dispersion, relative abundance and environment during summer 1999
Bae Systems, 4669 Murphy Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92123, USA, 1 Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA and 2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
* Corresponding Author: duncan.mcgehee{at}gcccd.net
Received July 22, 2002; accepted in principle August 26, 2003; accepted for publication July 19, 2004; published online August 20, 2004
The distributions of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll and zooplankton were measured in the Ligurian Sea, north of Corsica, in August 1999. To characterize the physical environment, hydrographic and fluorometric profiles were collected. A net and two acoustic systems were used to measure the distribution of small (<5 mm) and large (>5 mm) zooplankton. Highest chlorophyll values were strongly associated with a dome of dense water in the center of the Ligurian Basin. Small zooplankton (copepods and smaller), in contrast, appeared to be associated with the periphery of the basin and were negatively correlated with chlorophyll. Large zooplankton were not correlated with either chlorophyll or small zooplankton. Large zooplankton migrated vertically hundreds of meters every night, while small zooplankton did not appear to migrate much. The physical observations were consistent with (i) a well-documented geostrophically driven cyclonic coastal current (the Ligurian Current) fed by sources in the Algerian Basin and Tyrrhenian Sea and (ii) upwelling in the central Ligurian Basin. Large zooplankton, being strong vertical migrators, were potentially insulated from the effects of the currents and therefore stayed resident.
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