A change in the zooplankton of the central North Sea (55 degree to 58 degree N): A possible consequence of changes in the benthos

Lindley, JA, Gamble, JC and Hunt, HG 1995 A change in the zooplankton of the central North Sea (55 degree to 58 degree N): A possible consequence of changes in the benthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 119 (1-3). 299-303. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps119299

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Abstract/Summary

The mesozooplankton taken in continuous plankton recorder samples from the Central North Sea has changed from being numerically dominated by holoplanktonic calanoid copepod species from 1958 to the late 1970s to a situation where pluteus larvae of echinoid and ophiuroid echinoderms have been more abundant than any single holoplanktonic species in the 1980s and early 1990s. The abundance of the echinoderm larvae as a proportion of the zooplankton taken in the samples has followed a continuous increasing trend over the Dogger Bank, but off the eastern coast of northern England and southern Scotland the increase did not become obvious until the 1980s. This trend is consistent with reported increases in abundance of the macrobenthos. It is proposed that changes in the benthos have influenced the composition of the plankton.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Keywords:	Zooplankton Ecological succession Dominant species Plankton surveys Correlation analysis Community composition Zoobenthos
Subjects:	Ecology and Environment
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Other (PML)
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date made live:	26 Jan 2007
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:56
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/1874

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