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JPR Advance Access published online on November 18, 2009
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbp101
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Vertical distribution and diel patterns of zooplankton abundance and biomass at Conch Reef, Florida Keys (USA)

Karla B. Heidelberg1,*, Keri L. O'Neil2, John C. Bythell3 and Kenneth P. Sebens4

1 Department of Biological Sciences and Wrigley Institute of Marine Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA 2 National Aquarium in Baltimore, 501 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA 3 School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK 4 University of Washington, Friday Harbor Laboratories, 620 University Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA

* CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: kheidelb{at}usc.edu

Received on June 24, 2009; accepted on September 30, 2009


  Abstract

Zooplankton play an important role in the trophic dynamics of coral reef ecosystems. Detailed vertical and temporal distribution and biomass of zooplankton were evaluated at four heights off the bottom and at six times throughout the diel cycle over a coral reef in the Florida Keys (USA). Zooplankton abundance averaged 4396 ± 1949 SD individuals m–3, but temporal and spatial distributions varied for individual zooplankton taxa by time of day and by height off the bottom. Copepods comprised 93–96% of the abundance in the samples. Taxon-based zooplankton CHN values paired with abundance data were used to estimate biomass. Average daily biomass ranged from 3.1 to 21.4 mg C m–3 and differed by both height off the bottom and by time of day. While copepods were the numerically dominant organisms, their contribution to biomass was only 35% of the total zooplankton biomass. Our findings provide important support for the new emerging paradigm of how zooplankton are distributed over reefs.

Corresponding editor: Mark J. Gibbons


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