Maya Bode

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Copepod Abundance along the 20°S Monitoring Transect in the Northern Benguela Upwelling System from 2005 to 2011

Long-term data sets are essential to understand climate-induced variability in marine ecosystems. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of longer-term temporal and spatial variations in zooplankton abundance and copepod community structure in the northern Benguela upwelling system from 2005 to 2011. Samples were collected from the upper 200 m along a transect at 20°S perpendicular to the coast of Namibia to 70 nm offshore. Based on seasonal and interannual trends in surface temperature and salinity, three distinct time periods were discernible with stronger upwelling in spring and extensive warm-water intrusions in late summer, thus, high temperature amplitudes, in the years 2005/06 and 2010/11, and less intensive upwelling followed by weaker warm-water intrusions from 2008/09 to 2009/10. Zooplankton abundance reflected these changes with higher numbers in 2005/06 and 2010/11. In contrast, zooplankton density was lower in 2008/09 and 2009/10, when temperature gradients from spring to late summer were less pronounced. Spatially, copepod abundance tended to be highest between 30 and 60 nautical miles off the coast, coinciding with the shelf break and continental slope. The dominant larger calanoid copepods were Calanoides carinatus, Metridia lucens and Nannocalanus minor. On all three scales studied, i.e. spatially from the coast to offshore waters as well as temporally, both seasonally and interannually, maximum zooplankton abundance was not coupled to the coldest temperature regime, and hence strongest upwelling intensity. Pronounced temperature amplitudes, and therefore strong gradients within a year, were apparently important and resulted in higher zooplankton abundance.

Nitrogen fixation in the eastern Atlantic reaches similar levels in the Southern and Northern Hemisphere

Euphotic layer dinitrogen (N-2) fixation and primary production (PP) were measured in the eastern Atlantic Ocean (38 degrees N-21 degrees S) using N-15(2) and C-13 bicarbonate tracer incubations. This region is influenced by Saharan dust deposition and waters with low nitrogen to phosphorus (N/P) ratios originating from the Subantarctic and the Benguela upwelling system. Depth-integrated rates of N-2 fixation in the north (0 degrees N-38 degrees N) ranged from 59 to 370 mu mol N m(-2) d(-1), with the maximal value at 19 degrees N under the influence of the northwest African upwelling. Diazotrophic activity in the south (0 degrees S-21 degrees S), though slightly lower, was surprisingly close to observations in the north, with values ranging from 47 to 119 mu mol N m(-2) d(-1). Our North Atlantic N-2 fixation rates correlate well with dust deposition, while those in the South Atlantic correlate strongly with excess phosphate relative to nitrate. There, the necessary iron is assumed to be supplied from the Benguela upwelling system. When converting N-2 fixation to carbon uptake using a Redfield ratio (6.6), we find that N-2 fixation may support up to 9% of PP in the subtropical North Atlantic (20 degrees N-38 degrees N), 5% in the tropical North Atlantic (0 degrees N-20 degrees N), and 1% of PP in the South Atlantic (0 degrees S-21 degrees S). Combining our data with published data sets, we estimate an annual N input of 27.610 Tg N yr(-1) over the open Atlantic Ocean, 11% of which enters the region between 20 degrees N and 50 degrees N, 71% between 20 degrees N and 10 degrees S, and 18% between 10 degrees N and 45 degrees S.

Unravelling diversity of deep-sea copepods using integrated morphological and molecular techniques

Accurate species identification is crucial for ecological studies. For copepods, this is usually based on a few diagnostic morphological characters, which can be highly conserved, resulting in an underestimation of species diversity in many copepod families. We elucidate species richness in the morphologically challenging and ecologically important deep-sea copepod family Spinocalanidae in the tropical Atlantic by applying an integrated taxonomic approach combining morphology, DNA-sequence analyses and proteomic fingerprinting. In total, 28 morphospecies could be discriminated, while 39 putative species were detected using DNA-sequence analyses and 42 using proteomic fingerprinting. This outcome verifies proteomic fingerprinting to simplify and accelerate future biodiversity studies of copepods with high taxonomic resolution. Our findings demonstrate the power of this integrated morphological and molecular taxonomic approach by revealing high numbers of cryptic or pseudocryptic species and thus uncovering the incompleteness of taxonomic guides for this group in the poorly explored mesopelagic realm. Furthermore, our analyses reveal a close relationship of Mospicalanus and Spinocalanus group A and indicate that the genus Spinocalanus may be polyphyletic. The underestimated species diversity suggests complex ecological interactions in terms of predator–prey relationships, interspecific competition and species-specific specializations in the vast, but under-studied mesopelagic realm.

Population genetic structure of Calanoides natalis (Copepoda, Calanoida) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Benguela upwelling system

The population genetic structure of Calanoides natalis (ex Calanoides carinatus; Copepoda, Calanoida), an ecologically important component of African upwelling systems, was studied in order to (i) search for potential cryptic species, (ii) describe spatial patterns in the distribution of genetic variance and (iii) identify potential barriers to gene flow. Samples were obtained in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Iberian Peninsula to Namibia. Analysis of mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I; COI) and nuclear (citrate synthase; CS) marker genes revealed a genetically cohesive population of C. natalis with a prevalent shift in allele frequencies. The discovery of a deep split solely present in the mitochondrial dataset does not point to cryptic speciation, but rather suggests the occurrence of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes or incomplete reproductive isolation upon secondary contact. Genetic differentiation between the northern and southern hemisphere was significant, which may point to a potential, but permeable barrier close to the equator. No vertical genetic structuring was detected in the northern Benguela implying that horizontal differentiation was more pronounced than vertical structuring. Retention mechanisms and the oxygen minimum zone did not have a strong impact on genetic differentiation of C. natalis in the Benguela region.