| dc.contributor | FONDECYT 1130511 | en-US |
| dc.creator | Valdés, Valentina | |
| dc.creator | Escribano, Rubén | |
| dc.creator | Vergara, Odette | |
| dc.date | 2017-03-08 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-05T13:35:20Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-11-05T13:35:20Z | |
| dc.identifier | http://lajar.ucv.cl/index.php/rlajar/article/view/vol45-issue1-fulltext-5 | |
| dc.identifier | 10.3856/vol45-issue1-fulltext-5 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://revistaschilenas.uchile.cl/handle/2250/158548 | |
| dc.description | Crustacean zooplankton, often dominated by copepods and euphausiids, are the major phytoplankton grazers in coastal upwelling systems. It has been argued that grazing by zooplankton is a size-dependent process, such that models incorporating the size structure of zooplankton are appropriate for describing herbivore C-transfer. Here, based on the size-spectrum theory and on gut-fluorescence experiments, conducted with numerically dominant copepods from two upwelling sites off the Chilean coast, we show that C-specific ingestion rates of copepods are size-dependent. We further show that the size structure of the copepod community, synthesized by the slope of the normalized size spectrum, determines the impact of grazing on phytoplankton. C-specific ingestion rates, depending on species size, were in the range of 0.02-8.40 (µg C x µg C-1 d-1). A modelled normalized biomass-spectra of a copepod community in the size range of 0.5 to 74.0 µg C showed that C-specific grazing impact can increase by a factor of 4 when small-sized species (0.1-10 µg C indiv-1), such as Paracalanus cf. indicus, Acartia tonsa, Oncaea spp. and Corycaeus spp., dominate the community in terms of biomass. By contrast, when larger-sized copepods dominate (10-100 µg C indiv-1), such as Calanus chilensis, Calanoides patagoniensis and Rhyncalanus nasutus, total zooplankton biomass may increase, but with a sharp decrease in the efficiency of C transfer via herbivores. Our findings indicate that processes affecting the size structure of zooplankton communities can substantially impact on phytoplankton C flux through the pelagic food web, thus controlling production of higher trophic levels. | en-US |
| dc.format | application/pdf | |
| dc.language | eng | |
| dc.publisher | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso | en-US |
| dc.relation | http://lajar.ucv.cl/index.php/rlajar/article/view/vol45-issue1-fulltext-5/430 | |
| dc.relation | http://lajar.ucv.cl/index.php/rlajar/article/downloadSuppFile/vol45-issue1-fulltext-5/899 | |
| dc.source | Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research; Vol 45, No 1 (2017); 41-54 | en-US |
| dc.source | Plataforma para envío de artículos - Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research; Vol 45, No 1 (2017); 41-54 | es-ES |
| dc.source | 0718-560X | |
| dc.source | 0718-560X | |
| dc.subject | copepods; grazing; ingestion rate; body size; upwelling; Chile | en-US |
| dc.title | Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux | en-US |
| dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/article | |
| dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion | |
| dc.type | | en-US |
| dc.type | | es-ES |
