Coastal amplification of supply and transport (CAST): a new hypothesis about the persistence of Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine
Authored by Rubao Ji, Changsheng Chen, Zhixuan Feng, Jeffrey A Runge, Nicholas R Record, Benjamin T Jones, Cameron Thompson
Date Published: 2017
DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsw253
Sponsors:
United States National Science Foundation (NSF)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
The lipid-rich calanoid copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, plays a critical
role in the pelagic food web of the western North Atlantic and
particularly in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Deep basins along the
continental shelf harbour high abundance of diapausing C. finmarchicus
during the summer and fall. In Wilkinson Basin in the western Gulf of
Maine, C. finmarchicus has persisted in large concentrations despite
recent significant warming that could potentially threaten the existence
of the population in this region. Identifying the major source of
diapausing individuals is critical to the understanding of mechanisms
that allow population persistence. In this study, Lagrangian tracking
experiments using an individual-based copepod life cycle model and
simulation of environmental conditions during an exceptionally warm year
(2012) suggest that coastal waters are the major upstream source for
individuals entering dormancy in Wilkinson Basin over summertime,
although pathways and distribution patterns vary with the release timing
of particles. Both model results and observation data support the
Coastal Amplification of Supply and Transport (CAST) hypothesis as an
explanation for the persistence of C. finmarchicus population in the
western Gulf of Maine. The mechanism involves the coastal amplification
of supply (spring reproduction/summer growth in the food-rich coastal
region) and transport to the receiving Wilkinson Basin that is capable
of harbouring the diapausing stock.
Tags
Population persistence
individual based model
Climate-change
Variability
Life-cycle
Ocean
Georges bank
Northwest atlantic
Distribution models
Vertical
migration
St-lawrence estuary
Newfoundland shelf
Calanus finmarchicus
Gulf of maine
Life
history