Climate forcing on estuarine zooplanktonic production

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Estuarine Ecology
• Climate Change Science

Background:

• Estuaries are vital aquatic ecosystems facing significant threats from climate change.
• Understanding climate variability impacts on estuarine zooplankton is crucial for effective ecosystem management.
• Zooplankton are key indicators of aquatic ecosystem health and productivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of climate variability on zooplanktonic secondary production in the Mondego estuary, Portugal.
• To analyze trends in seasonal zooplankton production over a ten-year period (2003-2013).
• To investigate the relationship between zooplankton production and large-scale, regional, and local environmental factors.

Main Methods:

• A ten-year time series (2003-2013) of zooplankton data from the Mondego estuary.
• Trend analysis of seasonal zooplankton production.
• Distance-based multivariate multiple regression (DistLM) to link environmental variables with zooplankton production.

Main Results:

• Annual integrated zooplankton production varied significantly, ranging from 34.27 mg C m⁻³ in 2003 to 179.804 mg C m⁻³ in 2013.
• Estuarine and marine zooplankton production showed increases, particularly during summer/autumn and spring/summer, respectively.
• Copepod production was primarily driven by local and regional environmental factors, with large-scale climate shifts exerting both direct and indirect influences.

Conclusions:

• Climate variability, encompassing local, regional, and large-scale factors, significantly shapes estuarine zooplankton production.
• Estuarine management strategies must account for these complex environmental drivers to ensure ecosystem resilience.
• The findings highlight the sensitivity of zooplankton communities to changing climatic conditions in estuarine environments.