Toward a phenological mismatch in estuarine pelagic food web?
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
PLoS ONE. 2017, vol. 12, n° 3, p. e0173752
English Abstract
Alterations of species phenology in response to climate change are now unquestionable. Until now, most studies have reported precocious occurrence of life cycle events as a major phenological response. Desynchronizations ...Read more >
Alterations of species phenology in response to climate change are now unquestionable. Until now, most studies have reported precocious occurrence of life cycle events as a major phenological response. Desynchronizations of biotic interactions, in particular predator-prey relationships, are however assumed to strongly impact ecosystems' functioning, as formalized by the Match-Mismatch Hypothesis (MMH). Temporal synchronicity between juvenile fish and zooplankton in estuaries is therefore of essential interest since estuaries are major nursery grounds for many commercial fish species. The Gironde estuary (SW France) hassuffered significant alterations over the last three decades, including two Abrupt Ecosystem Shifts (AES), and three contrasted intershift periods. The main objective of this study was to depict modifications in fish and zooplankton phenology among inter-shift periods and discuss the potential effects of the resulting mismatches at a community scale. A flexible Bayesian method was used to estimate and compare yearly patterns of species abundance in the estuary among the three pre-defined periods. Results highlighted (1) an earlier peak of zooplankton production and entrance of fish species in the estuary and (2) a decrease inresidence time of both groups in the estuary. Such species-specific phenological changes led to changes in temporal overlap between juvenile fish and their zooplanktonic prey. This situation questions the efficiency and potentially the viability of nursery function of theGironde estuary, with potential implications for coastal marine fisheries of the Bay of Biscay.Read less <
Keywords
ZOOPLANCTON
ABONDANCE D'ESPECE
POISSON
JUVENILE
ESTUAIRE
CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE
English Keywords
estuaries
climatic change
juveniles
fish
zooplankton
species abundance