Copepod Feeding Responses to Changes in Coccolithophore Size and Carbon Content
Type | Article | ||||||||
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Date | 2022-12 | ||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||
Author(s) | Toullec Jordan1, Delegrange Alice1, 2, Perruchon Adélaïde1, Duong Gwendoline3, Cornille Vincent1, Brutier Laurent1, Hermoso Michaël1 | ||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences—UMR 8187 LOG, CNRS, Université Littoral Côte d’Opale, F-62930 Wimereux, France 2 : Institut national supérieur du professorat et de l’éducation, Académie de Lille—Hauts de France, F-59658 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France 3 : Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences—UMR 8187 LOG, CNRS, Université de Lille, F-59000 Lille, France |
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Source | Journal Of Marine Science And Engineering (2077-1312) (MDPI AG), 2022-12 , Vol. 10 , N. 12 , P. 1807 (22p.) | ||||||||
DOI | 10.3390/jmse10121807 | ||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 1 | ||||||||
Note | This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology of Marine Zooplankton | ||||||||
Keyword(s) | coccolithophore, elemental stoichiometry, copepods, gut content, ingestion rate, fecal pellet egestion, functional response | ||||||||
Abstract | Phytoplankton stoichiometry and cell size could result from both phenology and environmental change. Zooplankton graze on primary producers, and this drives both the balance of the ecosystem and the biogeochemical cycles. In this study, we performed incubations with copepods and coccolithophores including different prey sizes and particulate carbon contents by considering phytoplankton biovolume concentration instead of chlorophyll a level (Chl a) as is usually performed in such studies. The egestion of fecal pellet and ingestion rates were estimated based on a gut fluorescence method. The latter was calibrated through the relationship between prey Chl a level and the biovolume of the cell. Chl a/biovolume ratio in phytopkanton has to be considered in the copepod gut fluorescent content method. Both coccolithophore biovolume and particulate inorganic/organic carbon ratios affect the food foraging by copepods. Finally, we observed a non-linear relationship between ingestion rates and fecal pellet egestion, due to the presence of calcite inside the copepod’s gut. These results illustrate that both prey size and stoichiometry need to be considered in copepod feeding dynamics, specifically regarding the process leading to the formation of fecal pellets. |
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