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Environmental drivers of the fine-scale distribution of a gelatinous zooplankton community across a mesoscale front

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Title Environmental drivers of the fine-scale distribution of a gelatinous zooplankton community across a mesoscale front
Names Luo, Jessica Y. (creator)
Grassian, Benjamin (creator)
Tang, Dorothy (creator)
Irisson, Jean-Olivier (creator)
Greer, Adam T. (creator)
Guigand, Cedric M. (creator)
McClatchie, Sam (creator)
Cowen, Robert K. (creator)
Date Issued 2014-09-09 (iso8601)
Note To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Inter-Research and can be found at: http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/meps-home/.
Abstract Mesoscale fronts occur frequently in many coastal areas and often are sites of elevated
productivity; however, knowledge of the fine-scale distribution of zooplankton at these
fronts is lacking, particularly within the mid-trophic levels. Furthermore, small (<13 cm) gelatinous
zooplankton are ubiquitous, but are under-studied, and their abundances underestimated
due to inadequate sampling technology. Using the In Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System
(ISIIS), we describe the fine-scale distribution of small gelatinous zooplankton at a sharp salinity-driven
front in the Southern California Bight. Between 15 and 17 October 2010, over 129000
hydromedusae, ctenophores, and siphonophores within 44 taxa, and nearly 650000 pelagic tunicates
were imaged in 5450 m³ of water. Organisms were separated into 4 major assemblages
which were largely associated with depth-related factors. Species distribution modeling using
boosted regression trees revealed that hydromedusae and tunicates were primarily associated
with temperature and depth, siphonophores with dissolved oxygen (DO) and chlorophyll a fluorescence,
and ctenophores with DO. The front was the least influential out of all environmental
variables modeled. Additionally, except for 6 taxa, all other taxa were not aggregated at the front.
Results provide new insights into the biophysical drivers of gelatinous zooplankton distributions
and the varying influence of mesoscale fronts in structuring zooplankton communities.
Genre Article
Topic Gelatinous zooplankton
Identifier Luo, J. Y., Grassian, B., Tang, D., Irisson, J. O., Greer, A. T., Guigand, C. M., ... & Cowen, R. K. (2014). Environmental drivers of the fine-scale distribution of a gelatinous zooplankton community across a mesoscale front. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 510, 129-149. doi:10.3354/meps10908

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