Zooplankton biogeographic boundaries in the California Current System as determined from metabarcoding

Area of Science:

• Marine Ecology
• Oceanography
• Biodiversity Studies

Background:

• The California Current ecosystem exhibits known marine community structure breaks at Point Conception and Punta Eugenia.
• Understanding zooplankton community dynamics is crucial for ecosystem health assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate zooplankton community structure breaks within the southern California Current.
• To assess the utility of metabarcoding for analyzing mixed zooplankton samples and identifying biodiversity patterns.

Main Methods:

• Metabarcoding of mixed net tow tissue samples collected from Monterey to Baja California.
• Analysis using two parallel bioinformatic pipelines to ensure result robustness.
• Comparison of recovered species presence with previously documented ranges.

Main Results:

• A clear break in overall zooplankton community structure was identified at Punta Eugenia.
• Point Conception showed a weaker association with changes in zooplankton community structure.
• High species diversity was recovered, aligning with known biogeographic ranges.

Conclusions:

• Metabarcoding of mixed tissue samples is effective for recovering known biodiversity patterns.
• The study identified significant zooplankton community differentiation across geographic regions.
• Punta Eugenia serves as a key biogeographic boundary for zooplankton in this ecosystem.