Trophic structure of the pelagic food web in the East China Sea

Abstract

Background: Trophic structure and trophic transfer efficiency are among the most fundamental characteristics of an ecosystem. They characterize the transfer of nutrient and energy and are crucial in estimating the yield of harvestable biomass. In this study, we investigated the regulation of trophic structure (phytoplankton, zooplankton, and larval fish abundance) and biomass ratio of zooplankton to phytoplankton (as an indicator of transfer efficiency) in the East China Sea, one of the largest marginal seas in the world and an important fishing ground.

Vertical distributions of lipid biomarkers in spring and summer in coastal regions of the East China Sea

“…Fish larvae assemblages also showed regional characteristics, which fit perfectly with water masses (Lin et al, 2016). Altogether, bottom-up processes have been shown to control the trophic structure in the ECS (Bai et al, 2015). Food chain effects of phytoplankton nutritional quality have been widely observed, and phytoplankton chemical composition (e.g., essential fatty acids (FAs) and sterols) determines nutritional quality of phytoplankton as food for herbivores (Ruess and Müller-Navarra, 2019;Straile and Martin-Creuzburg, 2022).…”

“…Phytoplankton dynamics show strong spatiotemporal variations in the Zhejiang coast, which further governs the structure and functioning of marine food webs (Bai et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2015). Diatoms and dinoflagellates are dominant phytoplankton groups in the Changjiang River Estuary (CRE) and adjacent areas in the ECS.…”