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PeerJ
2019 Jan 01;7:e6641. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6641.
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Temporal variability in zooplankton community in the western Yellow Sea and its possible links to green tides.
Wang W
,
Zhang G
,
Sun X
,
Zhang F
,
Zhang X
.
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Large-scale macro-algal blooms of Ulva prolifera (also called green tides) have appeared each summer since 2008 in the western Yellow Sea. In this study, we investigated the temporal variability in zooplankton community in the western Yellow Sea and its possible links to green tides using data from a long-term plankton survey off the coast of Qingdao, China. Environmental conditions observed in the study area during the green tide period (GTP: June-August, 2008-2013) were compared to the non-green tide period (NGTP: June-August, 2005-2007), to support the contention that variations observed in zooplankton community may be attributed to the green tides, as opposed to natural climatic or environmental variations. Zooplankton assemblage structure observed during the GTP was then compared to the NGTP. Significant variations were detected both in zooplankton abundance and assemblage structure between the two defined periods. The abundance of zooplankton, mainly copepods, was significantly decreased during the GTP. Meanwhile, the relative abundance of copepods decreased by approximately 10% and that of gelatinous zooplankton, including appendicularians, chaetognaths, and medusae, almost doubled (ca. increased by 6.4%). The dominant species of meroplankton completely changed, specifically, polychaeta, and echinoderm larvae were more dominant than decapod and bivalve larvae. With regard to zooplankton size structure, the NGTP showed a higher size diversity with more small-sized organisms, while the GTP showed a lower size diversity in the community. According to general linear models, the interannual variation in summer zooplankton abundance was significantly correlated with green tides. These results indicate that the temporal changes in zooplankton community may have a close link to the green tides.
Figure 1. Location of the study site.(A) Map of the study area in the black rectangle and (B) the sampling station (D7) off the coast of Qingdao, northwestern Yellow Sea, and the meteorological station (54857) in Qingdao city. (C) A photo of the green tide off the coast of Qingdao was taken by Weicheng Wang on the “KE XUE SAN HAO” research vessel on June 11, 2014.
Figure 2. Principal component analysis (PCA) of climatic and environmental factors.With (A) correlations between variables, (B) correlations between variables and axes, and the projection of (C) monthly samples, and (D) different periods (e.g., the NGTP and green tide period GTP) on the two first principal components (Dim1-Dim2), data from 2005 to 2013 were pooled together. Data centroids (larger points) were also displayed in (C) and (D). SST, sea surface temperature; SSS, sea surface salinity; EASMI, East Asian Summer Monsoon Index; AirT, air temperature; Chl a, chlorophyll a; PDO, Pacific Decadal Oscillation; AO, Arctic Oscillation; WS, wind speed; AtmP, atmospheric pressure.
Figure 3. Hierarchical clustering and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plots.(A) Dendrogram of hierarchical clustering of samples from 2005 to 2013 when considering summer total zooplankton abundance (ind. m−3) at the sampling station, (B) a NMDS plot on the first two axes was based on the Bray–Curtis similarities of the square root transformed zooplankton taxon abundance data for the two periods compared: the non-green tide period (NGTP) and the green tide period (GTP).
Figure 4. Monthly mean abundances of dominant holoplankton and meroplankton during the non-green tide period (NGTP) and green tide period (GTP) at the sampling station.(A) Copepods, (B) appendicularians, (C) chaetognaths, (D) medusae, (E) nauplii, (F) polychaeta larvae, (G) decapod larvae, (H) echinoderm larvae, and (I) bivalve larvae. Vertical bars show SE. Asterisks indicate significant differences of zooplankton taxa abundance between the NGTP and GTP.
Figure 5. Abundance composition of zooplankton taxonomic groups.(A) The non-green tide period (NGTP) and (B) green tide period (GTP).
Figure 6. Relative abundance of zooplankton during the non-green tide period (NGTP) and green tide period (GTP) at the sampling station.(A) Dominant non-copepod holoplankton and (B) meroplankton.
Figure 7. Boxplot of summer zooplankton size diversity during the non-green tide period (NGTP) and green tide period (GTP) at the sampling station.Data for each period were pooled from time series sampling from summer (June–August) of 2005 to 2013. The lower whisker, lower hinge, horizontal line, upper hinge, and upper whisker show minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum size diversity, respectively.
Figure 8. Abundance composition of zooplankton taxonomic groups in each size classes during summer (June–August) at the sampling station.(A) The non-green tide period (NGTP) and (B) green tide period (GTP).
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