Resting Eggs of Marine Copepods: How Long Do They Survive and What Is the Affect of Anoxia and Hydrogen Sulfide on Their Viability?

近二十年来，越来越多的研究表明，沿海地区桡足类动物的种群动态取决于底栖动物休眠卵的存在。然而，了解卵子对无性体招募的数字贡献并不足以准确预测种群和群落动态，特别是在进化时间尺度上。如果卵子在很长一段时间内（大于繁殖季节）积累并形成一个卵子库，它们的孵化可能会减缓物种进化变化的速度。这是因为卵子库代表了种群的遗传历史。卵子存活的时间越长，卵子库中包含的遗传记忆就越大。这些实地研究将确定卵子是否能在原地存活至少三年。缺氧和硫化氢对静息卵活力的影响将在模拟野外条件的实验室实验中进行评估。

During the last two decades more and more studies have demonstrated that the population dynamics of copepods in coastal areas are dependent upon the existence of benthic resting eggs. Understanding the numerical contribution of eggs to naupliar recruitment is not sufficient, however, to accurately predict population and community dynamics especially on evolutionary time scales. If eggs accumulate over an extended period of time (greater than a reproductive season) and form an egg bank, their hatching may slow the rate of evolutionary change of the species. This is because egg banks represent the genetic history of the population. The longer eggs survive the greater will be the genetic memory contained in the egg bank. These field studies will determine if eggs can survive at least three years in situ. The impact of anoxia and hydrogen sulfide on resting egg viability will be assessed in laboratory experiments designed to simulate field conditions.