Spatio-temporal persistence of zooplankton communities in the Gulf of Alaska.

ABSTRACT: Spatial structuring of mid-trophic level forage communities in the Gulf of Alaska (GoA) is poorly understood, even though it has clear implications for the health of fisheries and marine wildlife populations. Here, we test the hypothesis that summertime (May-August) mesozooplankton communities are spatially-persistent across years of varying ocean conditions, including during the marine heatwave of 2014-2016. We use spatial ordinations and hierarchical clustering of Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) sampling over 17 years (2000-2016) to (1) characterize typical zooplankton communities in different regions of the GoA, and (2) investigate spatial structuring relative to variation in ocean temperatures and circulation. Five regional communities were identified, each representing distinct var

SUBMITTER: Hoover BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7822315 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature