U.S.-GLOBEC: Zooplankton Recruitment Variability and Advective Processes on Georges Bank: Diet of Early Stage Copepods

9632634吉福德本项目的具体重点将是定量描述纳米和微型浮游生物(即2-200um大小的植物和动物)捕食场对在乔治斯海岸招募目标桡足类种群的贡献。PIs假设早期的桡足类从缅因湾和大南海峡流入岸边，相对于源头地区，岸上经历了丰富的食物环境。该项目将审查无节幼体阶段N3-N6的微小和微型浮游生物的消耗，这些阶段包括Calanys finmarchicus和Pseudocalanus spp。在以下区域：1)大南航道和缅因湾的水源区，平流机制向乔治斯浅滩提供水(以及可能的桡足类)；2)接受这些输入的岸上区域，包括东北高峰上的增产区域；3)潮汐锋面两侧的区域，将浅滩顶部与南侧较深的水域隔开。这项研究的重点是Calanus和Pseudocalanus，因为在1-6月期间，这两个物种在乔治斯滩的浮游动物生物量中占主导地位。将对无节幼体阶段进行研究，因为这些阶段是桡足类向种群招募的阶段。将在大南海峡和缅因州海湾南部进行实地采样，因为这些都是水和浮游动物平流输入到岸顶的地点。该项目是美国GLOBEC西北大西洋实地研究第二阶段计划的一部分。***

9632634 GIFFORD The specific focus of this project will be to describe quantitatively the contribution of nano- and microplankton (i.e., plants and animala, 2-200 um in size) prey fields to recruitment of target copepod populations on Georges Bank. The PIs hypothesize that early stage copepods advected onto the Bank from the Gulf of Maine and the Great South Channel experience an enriched food environment on-Bank relative to source regions. The project will examine consumption of nano- and microplankton by naupliar stages N3-N6 of the calanoid copepods Calanus finmarchicus and Pseudocalanus spp. in: 1) source areas in the Great South Channel and the Gulf of Maine where the advective regime contributes water (and presumably copepods) to Georges Bank; 2) on-Bank regions receiving these inputs, including the region of enhanced production on the Northeast Peak; and 3) areas on either side of the tidal front separating the Bank crest from deeper waters on the Southern Flank. The study focuses on Calanus and Pseudocalanus because these species dominate the zooplankton biomass of Georges Bank during the January-June period. Naupliar stages will be studied because these are the stages at which copepods recruit to the population. Field sampling will be conducted in the Great South Channel and southern Gulf of Maine because these are sites for advective inputs of water and zooplankton onto the Bank crest. This project is a part of the U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic Field Studies, Phase 2 program. ***