Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux

This research paper examines the relationship between copepod size structure and carbon (C) transfer from phytoplankton in coastal upwelling systems off the Chilean coast, finding that communities dominated by smaller species significantly increase C-specific grazing impact.

• C-specific ingestion rates of copepods are size-dependent, with observed rates ranging from 0.14 to 353.97 (ng C µg C⁻¹ h⁻¹).
• The impact of grazing on phytoplankton is determined by the size structure of the copepod community. When small-sized species (0.1-10 µg C ind⁻¹), including Paracalanus cf. indicus, Acartia tonsa, Oncaea spp. and Corycaeus spp., dominate the biomass, the C-specific grazing impact can increase by a factor of 4.
• While the dominance of larger-sized copepods (10-100 µg C ind⁻¹), such as Calanus chilensis, Calanoides patagoniensis and Rhyncalanus nasutus, may increase total zooplankton biomass, it results in a sharp decrease in the efficiency of carbon transfer via herbivores.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/scaling-copepod-grazing-in-a-coastal-upwelling-system-the-importance-of-community-size-structure-for-phytoplankton-c-flux/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/scaling-copepod-grazing-in-a-coastal-upwelling-system-the-importance-of-community-size-structure-for-phytoplankton-c-flux/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux |date=12 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/scaling-copepod-grazing-in-a-coastal-upwelling-system-the-importance-of-community-size-structure-for-phytoplankton-c-flux/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025scaling, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Scaling copepod grazing in a coastal upwelling system: the importance of community size structure for phytoplankton C flux}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/scaling-copepod-grazing-in-a-coastal-upwelling-system-the-importance-of-community-size-structure-for-phytoplankton-c-flux/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }