Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on September 8, 2006
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbl042
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/11/1099    most recent
fbl042v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Costello, J.H.
Right arrow Articles by Gifford, D.J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Costello, J.H.
Right arrow Articles by Gifford, D.J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received May 6, 2006
Accepted September 4, 2006

Article

A physical-biological interaction underlying variable phenological responses to climate change by coastal zooplankton

J.H. Costello 1 *, B. K. Sullivan 2, and D.J. Gifford 2

1 Biology Department, Providence College, Providence, RI 02918-0001 USA
2 Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
J.H. Costello, E-mail: costello{at}providence.edu


  Abstract

Species-specific differential responses to climate warming that alter phenology can dramatically affect community function. Using time series data from a Northwest Atlantic estuary we show that the phenology of a top zooplankton predator, the ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, has shifted more in response to climate warming over the past ~50 years than that of its major prey species, the copepod Acartia tonsa. Prior to climatic warming, Acartia tonsa was the dominant secondary producer in the estuary and its main period of production occurred prior to the seasonal appearance of M. leidyi. However, since 2000, the seasonal peak abundances of the two species have overlapped, intensifying the predator-prey relationship and resulting in the near extirpation of the once-abundant copepod from the estuary. We propose that the physical mechanism driving the different phenological responses of the two species is differential spring warming of the winter refugia of these two species. Substantial amplification of warming patterns in shallow embayments affects overwintering M. leidyi but has little influence over seasonal excystment of overwintering A. tonsa eggs located in the broader, deeper regions of the Bay. In this way, large scale climatic changes are expressed as local-scale temperature variations that differentially affect alternate planktonic life histories to produce novel spring population growth dynamics of the two species and, ultimately, a new summer planktonic community dynamic in Narragansett Bay.

Communicating Editor: KJ Flynn


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
K. Engell-Sorensen, P. Andersen, and M. Holmstrup
Preservation of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi using acidic Lugol's solution
J. Plankton Res., August 1, 2009; 31(8): 917 - 920.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
T. Oguz, B. Fach, and B. Salihoglu
Invasion dynamics of the alien ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi and its impact on anchovy collapse in the Black Sea
J. Plankton Res., December 1, 2008; 30(12): 1385 - 1397.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ICES J. Mar. Sci.Home page
A. J. Richardson
In hot water: zooplankton and climate change
ICES J. Mar. Sci., April 1, 2008; 65(3): 279 - 295.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.