Polar Regions in the Earth System (PolarRES)
Published May 17, 2022 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Status, Change, and Futures of Zooplankton in the Southern Ocean

Creators

  • 1. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, United Kingdom,
  • 2. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom
  • 3. Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, TAS, Australia. Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia,
  • 4. Sorbonne Université, CNRS, IRD, MHN, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN-IPSL), Paris, France,
  • 5. Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  • 6. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, United States
  • 7. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
  • 8. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  • 9. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • 10. Escuela de Ciencias del Mar, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile,; Centro de Investigación Dinámica de Ecosistemas Marinos de Altas Latitudes (IDEAL)
  • 11. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Hakai Institute, Heriot Bay, BC, Canada, ; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • 12. Institute for Extra-Cutting-Edge Science and Technology Avant-Garde Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka City, Japan
  • 13. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State University, Moss Landing, CA, United States
  • 14. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany; Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany,; Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) at the University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
  • 15. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Hakai Institute, Heriot Bay, BC, Canada,; nstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • 16. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., Wellington, New Zealand,
  • 17. Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, South West Fisheries Center, La Jolla, CA, United States
  • 18. Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Newport, OR, United States
  • 19. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, United States; School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
  • 20. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA, United States
  • 21. Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  • 22. Institute for Marine Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  • 23. nstitute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

Description

In the Southern Ocean, several zooplankton taxonomic groups, euphausiids, copepods, salps and pteropods, are notable because of their biomass and abundance and their roles in maintaining food webs and ecosystem structure and function, including the provision of globally important ecosystem services. These groups are consumers of microbes, primary and secondary producers, and are prey for fishes, cephalopods, seabirds, and marine mammals. In providing the link between microbes, primary production, and higher trophic levels these taxa influence energy flows, biological production and biomass, biogeochemical cycles, carbon flux and food web interactions thereby modulating the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Additionally, Antarctic
krill (Euphausia superba) and various fish species are harvested by international fisheries. Global and local drivers of change are expected to affect the dynamics of key zooplankton species, which may have potentially profound and wide-ranging implications for Southern Ocean ecosystems and the services they provide. Here we assess the current understanding of the dominant metazoan zooplankton within the Southern Ocean, including Antarctic krill and other key euphausiid, copepod, salp and pteropod species. We provide a systematic overview of observed and potential future responses of these taxa to a changing Southern Ocean and the functional relationships by which drivers may impact them. To support future ecosystem assessments and conservation and management strategies, we also identify priorities
for Southern Ocean zooplankton research.

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Additional details

Funding

PolarRES – Polar Regions in the Earth System 101003590
European Commission