Copepod Assemblages at the Base of Mangrove Food Webs during a Severe Drought
Carolina Coelho Campos
Hortência de Sousa Barroso
Genuario Belmonte
Sergio Rossi
Marcelo de Oliveira Soares
Tatiane Martins Garcia
Abstract
The effect of severe drought on the functional groups that sustain the base of the mangrove food webs in semi-arid areas is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the intra-annual variation in the assemblages and functional groups of copepods in a shallow, low-inflow estuary of the Brazilian semi-arid coast when the most severe drought ever occurred. The lowest density was found in April (upstream region) and the highest in August (downstream region). Three main functional groups were identified, sorted by spawning strategy, and further subdivided according to feeding strategy, trophic regime, and diel vertical migration behavior. The community was significantly influenced by the extreme drought period, presenting a temporal homogenization in terms of composition, and an expressive and unexpected increase in density in the dry period, possibly due to phytoplankton blooms resistant to hypersalinity and the occurrence of copepod species adapted to stressful conditions. The few stress-tolerant species sustaining the food webs with seasonal variations were observed simplifying the trophic variability. The results indicate that hypersalinity can induce changes in the zooplankton community, increasing copepod mortality risk and, so, promoting alteration in the trophic estuarine dynamic.
Campos C.C., Barroso H.d.S., Belmonte G., Rossi S., Soares M.d.O. and Garcia T.M. (2022) Copepod Assemblages at the Base of Mangrove Food Webs during a Severe Drought. Water 14(22): 3648. 10.3390/w14223648
@article{Campos2022,
Title = {Copepod Assemblages at the Base of Mangrove Food Webs during a Severe Drought},
Author = {Campos, Carolina Coelho and Barroso, Hortência de Sousa and Belmonte, Genuario and Rossi, Sergio and Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira and Garcia, Tatiane Martins},
Editor = {},
Journal = {Water},
Year = {2022},
Pages = {3648},
Volume = {14},
Doi = {10.3390/w14223648},
Abstract = {The effect of severe drought on the functional groups that sustain the base of the mangrove food webs in semi-arid areas is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the intra-annual variation in the assemblages and functional groups of copepods in a shallow, low-inflow estuary of the Brazilian semi-arid coast when the most severe drought ever occurred. The lowest density was found in April (upstream region) and the highest in August (downstream region). Three main functional groups were identified, sorted by spawning strategy, and further subdivided according to feeding strategy, trophic regime, and diel vertical migration behavior. The community was significantly influenced by the extreme drought period, presenting a temporal homogenization in terms of composition, and an expressive and unexpected increase in density in the dry period, possibly due to phytoplankton blooms resistant to hypersalinity and the occurrence of copepod species adapted to stressful conditions. The few stress-tolerant species sustaining the food webs with seasonal variations were observed simplifying the trophic variability. The results indicate that hypersalinity can induce changes in the zooplankton community, increasing copepod mortality risk and, so, promoting alteration in the trophic estuarine dynamic.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Campos, Carolina Coelho
AU - Barroso, Hortência de Sousa
AU - Belmonte, Genuario
AU - Rossi, Sergio
AU - Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira
AU - Garcia, Tatiane Martins
TI - Copepod Assemblages at the Base of Mangrove Food Webs during a Severe Drought
T2 - Water
PY - 2022
SP - 3648
VL - 14
DO - 10.3390/w14223648
AB - The effect of severe drought on the functional groups that sustain the base of the mangrove food webs in semi-arid areas is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the intra-annual variation in the assemblages and functional groups of copepods in a shallow, low-inflow estuary of the Brazilian semi-arid coast when the most severe drought ever occurred. The lowest density was found in April (upstream region) and the highest in August (downstream region). Three main functional groups were identified, sorted by spawning strategy, and further subdivided according to feeding strategy, trophic regime, and diel vertical migration behavior. The community was significantly influenced by the extreme drought period, presenting a temporal homogenization in terms of composition, and an expressive and unexpected increase in density in the dry period, possibly due to phytoplankton blooms resistant to hypersalinity and the occurrence of copepod species adapted to stressful conditions. The few stress-tolerant species sustaining the food webs with seasonal variations were observed simplifying the trophic variability. The results indicate that hypersalinity can induce changes in the zooplankton community, increasing copepod mortality risk and, so, promoting alteration in the trophic estuarine dynamic.
ER -
