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R/P-28
Plankton trophic dynamics in Chesapeake Bay: Top down vs. bottom up control of copepod populations
Principal Investigator:
Jennifer E. PurcellStart/End Year:
1990 - 1994Institution:
Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceCo-Principal Investigator:
Michael R. Roman, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
- Jellyfish
Description:
We propose to determine if the control of copepod populations in the spring and fall are due to predation by gelatinous zooplankton (top-down control), or due to food limitations (bottom-up control). We will measure predation rates on copepods and ctenophores by gelatinous species, biomass of gelatinous and crustacean zooplankton, copepod grazing rates on phytoplankton, protozoa and detritus, and copepod reproduction.
Funding Start Year
1990
Funding End Year
1994
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Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
