Progressive changes in the Western English Channel foster a reorganization in the plankton food web

Reygondeau, G, Molinero, JC, Coombs, SH, Mackenzie, BR and Bonnet, D 2015 Progressive changes in the Western English Channel foster a reorganization in the plankton food web [in special issue: The UK Western Channel Observatory: Integrating pelagic and benthic observations in a shelf sea ecosystem] Progress in Oceanography, 137. 524-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.04.025

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2015.04.025

Abstract/Summary

Growing evidence has shown a profound modification of plankton communities of the North East Atlantic and adjacent seas over the past decades. This drastic change has been attributed to a modification of the environmental conditions that regulate the dynamics and the spatial distribution of ectothermic species in the ocean. Recently, several studies have highlighted modifications of the regional climate station L4 (50° 15.00′N, 4° 13.02′W) in the Western English Channel. We here focus on the modification of the plankton community by studying the long-term, annual and seasonal changes of five zooplankton groups and eight copepod genera. We detail the main composition and the phenology of the plankton communities during four climatic periods identified at the L4 station: 1988–1994, 1995–2000, 2001–2007 and 2008–2012. Our results show that long-term environmental changes underlined by Molinero et al. (2013) drive a profound restructuration of the plankton community modifying the phenology and the dominance of key planktonic groups including fish larvae. Consequently, the slow but deep modifications detected in the plankton community highlight a climate driven ecosystem shift in the Western English Channel.

Item Type: Publication - Article
Divisions: Marine Biological Association of the UK > Other (MBA)
Depositing User: Barbara Bultmann
Date made live: 04 Oct 2016 10:01
Last Modified: 25 Apr 2020 09:57
URI: https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7241

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