La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Low-pH Freshwater Discharges Drive Spatial and Temporal Variations in Life History Traits of Neritic Copepod Acartia tonsa
Auteurs :	Victor M. Aguilera, Auteur ; Cristian A. Vargas, Auteur ; Patricio H. Manriquez, Auteur ; Jorge M. Navarro, Auteur ; Cristian Duarte, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Estuaries and Coasts (36(5) SEP 2013)
Article en page(s) :	1084-1092
Résumé :	Land weathering by river runoff makes coastal oceans highly variable ecosystems in terms of seawater pH; however, its effects on biological components and, hence, on the coastal ecosystem functioning has been scarcely addressed. In this study, we determined part of the spatial and seasonal variability of the physical-chemical characteristics of seawater, and life history traits of the neritic copepod Acartia tonsa, along an estuarine-to-coastal zone geographic gradient in the southern Pacific Ocean. There, freshwater influences give rise to sharp gradients in pH, salinity, and temperature, which in turn, may affect the fitness of copepod populations inhabiting along the gradient. In fact, most of the studied copepod traits (egg size, ingestion, and egg production rates) were moderately (r (2) = 0.5, p

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