Influence of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic eddies on plankton biomass, activity and diversity in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Author:

Belkin Natalia,Guy-Haim TamarORCID,Rubin-Blum Maxim,Lazar Ayah,Sisma-Ventura Guy,Kiko RainerORCID,Morov Arseniy R.,Ozer Tal,Gertman Isaac,Herut Barak,Rahav Eyal

Abstract

Abstract. Planktonic food-webs were studied contemporaneously in a mesoscale cyclonic (upwelling, ~13 months old) and an anti-cyclonic (down-welling, ~2 months old) eddies, as well as in an uninfluenced-background situation in the oligotrophic southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) during late summer 2018. We show that integrated nutrients concentrations were higher at the cyclone compared to the anti-cyclone or the background stations by 2–13 fold. Concurrently, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus were the dominant community component abundance-wise in the oligotrophic anti-cyclone (~300 × 1010 cells m−2). In the cyclone, pico- and nanoeukaryotes such as dinoflagellates, Prymnesiophyceae and Ochrophyta contributed substantially to the total phytoplankton abundnce (~14 × 1010 cells m−2) which was ~65 % lower in the anti-cyclone/background stations (~5 × 1010 cells m−2). Primary production was highest in the cyclonic eddy (191 mg C m−2 d−1) and was 2–5 fold lower outside the eddy area. The calculated doubling time of phytoplankton was ~3 days in the cyclone and ~5–10 days at the anti-cyclone/background stations, further reflecting the nutritional differences between these environments. Heterotrophic prokaryotic cell-specific activity was highest in the cyclone (~10 fg C cell−1 d−1), while the least productive cells were found in the anti-cyclone (4 fg C cell−1 d−1). The calculated doubling time of heterotrophic bacteria were 1.4 days in the cyclone and 2.5–3.5 days at the anti-cyclone/background stations. Total zooplankton biomass in the upper 300 m was tenfold higher in the cyclone compared with the anti-cyclone or background stations (1337 vs. 112–133 mg C m−2, respectively). Copepod diversity was much higher in the cyclone (44 species), compared to the anti-cyclone (6 small-size species). Our results highlight that cyclonic and anti-cyclonic eddies show significantly different community compositions and food-web dynamics in oligotrophic environments, with cyclones representing productive oases in the marine desert of the SEMS.

Funder

Ministry of Science and Technology, Israel

Israel Science Foundation

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Publisher

Copernicus GmbH

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