The physiology of polar marine zooplankton

[摘要] The polar marine environment is characterised by low stable temperatures with seasonal variations ranging from ±3°C at lower latitudes to only ±0.2°C at high latitudes. The Arctic basin is dominated by multi-year ice. whereas the Antarctic is subject to large seasonal changes in the cover by annual sea ice. Primary production is intensely seasonal nearshore but probably less so in offshore waters where significant production is associated with the marginal ice zone. Oxygen consumption in polar zooplankton is low compared with temperate and tropical species. Annual growth rates are generally slow and, especially in herbivores, highly seasonal. It is likely that fast growth rates are possible for polar zooplankton in areas of high food availability such as ice-edge blooms, but these growth rates are not usually achieved in the more oligotrophic open-ocean areas. Lipid stores in polar herbivorous zooplankton are generally high, although some euphausiids and gelatinous zooplankton also rely on degrowth to pro...

[学科分类] 自然科学（综合）