Zooplankton metabolism in South African estuaries: does habitat type influence ecological strategies?

Type Article
Date 2019-07
Language English
Author(s) Tagliarolo MorganaORCID1, 2, 3, Porri F3, 4, Garvie C D1, Lechman K1, Scharler U M1
Affiliation(s) 1 : SCHOOL OF LIFE SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, WESTVILLE CAMPUS, UNIVERSITY ROAD, 3629 DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
2 : IFREMER, UMSR LEEISA (CNRS, UG, IFREMER), CENTRE DE RECHERCHE DE MONTABO, 275 ROUTE DE MONTABO, 97300 CAYENNE, FRANCE
3 : SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY, PRIVATE BAG 1015, 6140 GRAHAMSTOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
4 : RHODES DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY, RHODES UNIVERSITY, BARRATT COMPLEX, AFRICAN ST, GRAHAMSTOWN 6140, SOUTH AFRICA
Source Journal Of Plankton Research (0142-7873) (Oxford University Press (OUP)), 2019-07 , Vol. 41 , N. 4 , P. 535-548
DOI 10.1093/plankt/fbz035
WOS© Times Cited 2
Keyword(s) metabolism, zooplankton, respiration, estuary, thermal sensitivity
Abstract

Zooplankton community composition, biomass and metabolism can vary drastically over space and time in subtropical estuaries. Changing environmental conditions can affect communities differently, depending on the characteristics of the species involved. In the present study, we compared the rates of oxygen consumption of the dominant zooplankton taxa living in permanently open and in temporally open/closed estuaries. The metabolic response was tested at four temperatures experienced by the animals in their natural environment. Zooplankton from the temporally open/closed estuary showed low activation energies and low rate of metabolism at the highest temperature tested. Animals from the permanently open estuary had higher respiration rates at increased temperatures than those from the open/closed counterpart, with one taxon showing a particularly strong response to temperature increase. Results suggest that the metabolism of zooplankton in subtropical estuaries can be influenced by the environmental conditions experienced and those characteristics need to be accounted for in the development of bioenergetics budgets of species and ecosystems.

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