How could thermal stratification affect horizontal distribution of depth-integrated metazooplankton communities in the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia)?

Abstract

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Synthesis review of the Gulf of Gabes (eastern Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia): Morphological, climatic, physical oceanographic, biogeochemical and fisheries features

“…These rather low concentrations highlight the oligotrophic character of the Gulf of Gabes (Bel Hassen et al, 2009a, b;Drira et al, 2010;Ben Ltaief et al, 2015). The maximum concentrations are measured during the late spring at the beginning of the stratification period, while the lowest concentrations are found during the summer when the stratification is the strongest (Bel Hassen et al, 2008, 2009bDrira et al, 2009;Ben Ltaief et al, 2017).…”

“…Nitrate is the major form of dissolved inorganic nitrogen in winter mixing conditions, while the ammonium concentration strongly increases during the summer stratification period (Drira et al, 2008;Bel Hassen et al, 2009b). A putative nitrogen limitation has already been reported during the late-winter and late-spring (Geurmazi et al, 2010;Ben Ltaief et al, 2017). The silica limitation has been associated with the summer oligotrophic conditions highlighted by both low chlorophyll biomasses and high concentrations of particulate organic matter (Bel Hassen et al, 2010).…”

Response of Zooplankton Population to Environmental Forcing: Case of Southern and Northern Coasts of Sfax, Tunisia

“…Copepod nauplii, unlike copepodites and adults, have limited energy reservoirs and inefficient feeding appendages, and given that its survival depends on high concentrations of phytoplankton, they could achieve high survival rates in the FI where the highest chl-a values are registered. These copepods could succeed better in this zone, where high chl-a values were detected, given that they are preferably herbivores in eutrophic environments [84][85][86]. Other zooplankton groups with high abundances in the FI were Meroplankton.…”

Distribution of the plankton assemblages during the winter and summer along the southern coast of the Kerkennah Islands (Tunisia, Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

“…Among zooplankton, copepods are the most abundant group (Kiørboe, ). They are the principal grazers in the pelagic marine food web, representing the main pathway for transferring matter and energy from primary producers to the higher trophic levels (Ben Ltaief et al, ). The diversity of copepods reflects the physical and chemical properties of the water, as well as the availability of their prey, mainly phytoplankton and ciliates (Richardson, ).…”