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Abstract: Calanus sinicus, a dominant calanoid copepod in the Yellow Sea, is an important link in the food web between phytoplankton and higher trophic levels. Its populations typically start to develop in later winter with a maximum of individuals in early summer. To study the correlation between changes in the abundance of this species and changes in food resources and the physical environment, RNA and DNA concentrations and egg production rates (EPR) were measured, and RNA:DNA ratios were calculated as indices of growth and nutritional conditions of copepods collected in the Yellow Sea from February to July. We observed pronounced seasonal and spatial variations of RNA concentrations and resulting RNA:DNA ratios. There was a positive correlation between the EPR and RNA:DNA ratios. The copepods collected in March and April, when phytoplankton were more abundant, had high RNA:DNA ratios, and contained more RNA than copepods collected during the other months. There was no significant correlation between the growth indices (RNA:DNA ratios and EPR) and chlorophyll-a concentrations (Chl a) or temperature at large temporal and spatial scales. We tracked the development of two phytoplankton blooms in April, which were dominated in turn by diatoms and dinoflagellates. We observed high concentrations of RNA and a high RNA:DNA ratio at both bloom sites during the respective blooms. During the diatom bloom, the RNA:DNA ratios in copepods increased at the onset of the bloom and decreased thereafter. In addition, we observed a positive correlation (P<0.001) between RNA-based indices and Chl a. Our results suggest that food availability plays a more important role than temperature in controlling the growth of C. sinicus in the field. Thus, the spring phytoplankton blooms in the Yellow Sea are important regulators of copepod abundance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The responses of copepod grazing and reproduction to the spring phytoplankton bloom were studied in the temperate shelf water of the Southern Yellow Sea in March–April, 2009. Two different algal blooms were found during the cruises. A diatom-dominated bloom at Station Z11, and a dinoflagellate-dominated bloom at Station Z4. The gut pigment contents indicated that different sized copepods exhibited different responses to different-species phytoplankton blooms. Large copepods (LC: body size larger than 1000μm) and medium copepods (MC: body size ranging from 500 to 1000μm), grazed actively on diatom blooms, but inactively on dinoflagellate blooms, although the chlorophyll-a concentrations of dinoflagellate blooms were twice as high as than those of the diatom blooms. For small copepods (SC: body size smaller than 500μm), however, there was no significant difference in gut pigment contents between the two different algal blooms. Among the three size groups, LCs were the major grazers on the diatom bloom, while SCs were major grazers on the dinoflagellate bloom. Grazing impacts of copepod assemblages on phytoplankton blooms were low, only being equivalent to 1%day−1, or less, of the chlorophyll-a standing stock. The egg production rates of a large copepod, Calanus sinicus, were on average, 11.3eggind.−1 day−1, which was among the higher levels recorded in the study area, especially at the two stations where phytoplankton was blooming (21.8 and 14.9eggind.−1 day−1 at Stations Z11 and Z4, respectively). However, C. sinicus could only obtain sufficient food to support this high reproduction from the diatom bloom, but could not if relying only on the apparently unpalatable dinoflagellate bloom. Our analysis of copepod grazing and reproduction suggests that, although the spring blooms do enhance the reproduction of copepods, the taxa changed during spring blooms from large diatoms to small dinoflagellates would change the pathway of primary production. This would restructure secondary-producers (e.g. copepods) community structure, and have important ramifications through various marine trophic levels in the Southern Yellow Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]