Collaborative Research: Life histories of species in the genus Calanus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans and responses to climate forcing
J. Pierson, D. Kimmel [University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences]; Jeffrey Runge (Lead PI), Andrew Pershing [University of Maine]

Unfunded collaborators:

Andrew Leising, SWFSC, NOAA, La Jolla
Catherine Johnson, DFO, BIO, Canada
Stephane Plourde, DFO, IML, Canada
David Mackas, DFO, IOS, Canada
Roger Harris, PML, UK
Astthor Gislason, MRI, Iceland
Delphine Bonnet, Univ. Montpellier, France

Project Summary

Species in the genus Calanus are predominant in the mesozooplankton of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Their key role in marine food web interactions has been recognized in GLOBEC programs, both in the U.S. and internationally. Considerable knowledge of life history characteristics, including growth, reproduction, mortality, diapause behavior and demography has been acquired from both laboratory experiments and measurements at sea. This project reviews and synthesizes this knowledge and uses it to develop an Individual Based Life Cycle model for sibling species in two sympatric species pairs, C. marshallae and C. pacificus in the North Pacific Ocean and C. finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus in the North Atlantic, that have been the particular focus of GLOBEC programs and other recent research projects in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The IBLC model is then applied to make predictions about the life history response of each species to forcing under reasonable climate change scenarios for ambient food and temperature. The project involves training of a graduate student and two postdoctoral researchers in evaluation and prediction of effects of climate change on marine plankton populations. It fosters international collaboration with Canadian and European researchers, including participation in a workshop in Europe. Outreach to the broader fishing and management community is through seminars, information exchange sessions with fishermen managers, including the Maine Fishermen's Forum, collaboration in affiliated projects with colleagues involved in herring and tuna research in the Gulf of Maine and in climate and fisheries interactions within NOAA.

This page was last updated on October 16, 2008.

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