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Probing diversity in the plankton: using patterns in tintinnids (planktonic marine ciliates) to identify mechanisms
Dolan, J.R.; Lemée, R.; Gasparini, S.; Mousseau, L.; Heyndrickx, C. (2006). Probing diversity in the plankton: using patterns in tintinnids (planktonic marine ciliates) to identify mechanisms, in: Queiroga, H. et al. (Ed.) Marine biodiversity: patterns and processes, assessment, threats, management and conservation: Proceedings of the 38th European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Aveiro, Portugal, 8-12 September 2003. Developments in Hydrobiology, 183: pp. 143-157. dx.doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4697-9_12
In: Queiroga, H. et al. (2006). Marine biodiversity - Patterns and processes, assessment, threats, management and conservation: Proceedings of the 38th European Marine Biology Symposium, held in Aveiro, Portugal, 8-12 September 2003. European Marine Biology Symposia, 38. Developments in Hydrobiology, 183. ISBN 1-4020-4321-X. XV, 353 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4697-9, more
In: European Marine Biology Symposia., more

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Document type: Conference paper

Keywords
    Aquatic communities > Plankton > Phytoplankton
    Aquatic communities > Plankton > Zooplankton
    Biodiversity
    Foraminifera
    Geography > Biogeography
    Foraminifera [WoRMS]
    MED, Mediterranean [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    biogeography; biodiversity; zooplankton; Mediterranean; latitudinal gradient; phytoplankton; foraminifera

Authors  Top 
  • Dolan, J.R., more
  • Lemée, R.
  • Gasparini, S., more
  • Mousseau, L.
  • Heyndrickx, C.

Abstract
    In diversity research, the use of survey data appears to have declined in favour of experimental or modeling approaches because direct relationships are difficult to demonstrate. Here we show that use of field data can yield information concerning the mechanisms governing diversity. First, we establish that tintinnids display a global latitudinal pattern of diversity similar to other pelagic organisms; species numbers appear to peak between 20° and 30° north or south. This common large scale spatial trend has been attributed to the gradient in water column structure across the global ocean. We then examine the generality of a relationship between planktonic diversity and water column structure by considering data from the Mediterranean Sea, in which water column structure changes seasonally. Among populations of foraminifera, tintinnids, and the dinoflagellates of the genus Ceratium, we compare data from trans-Mediterranean sampling conducted at different times and monthly changes in species richness at single sites. We find that water column structure alone appears to be a poor predictor of temporal changes in diversity. Lastly, we present an example of temporal changes in tintinnid diversity based on data from an oceanographic sampling station in the N. W. Mediterranean where resources, as chlorophyll, appear distinctly unrelated to changes in water column structure. We show that short-tem temporal changes in diversity (week to week shifts) can be related to changes in chlorophyll concentration. We conclude that in tintinnids diversity can be directly linked to characteristics of food resources.

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