Mesozooplankton of Potter Cove:Community composition and seasonal distribution in 2002 and 2003

VERÓNICA L. FUENTES, SIGRID B. SCHNACK-SCHIEL, IRENE R. SCHLOSS & GRACIELA G. ESNAL

Berichte zur Polar und Meeresforschung - Reports on Polar and Marine Research

Año: 2008 p. 75 - 84

1618-3193

This study was conducted within the frame of a comprehensive zooplankton investigation that started in 2002 and is still going on as a monitoring program. The major aim is to detect possible changes in the zooplankton community in connection with global change. In the last few decades rising concern has been voiced about various aspects of regional climate change especially around the Antarctic Peninsula. In this sense, there have been dramatic changes in the abundance of some species zooplankton species (Atkinson et al. 2004) and non-native species reported for the first time (Thatje & Fuentes, 2003). Moreover, it is well accepted that ongoing plankton monitoring programs will be a key issue to identify future changes in marine ecosystems (Hays et al., 2005). We consider that due to its geographical location and the intense work being carried in the frame of the cooperation network between Argentina and Germany, Potter Cove is an ideal natural laboratory to test hypotheses concerning climate change.