Large-scale study of Calanus in the North Atlantic Ocean: macroecological patterns and potential impacts

Centropages typims is a temperate neritic-coastal species of the North Atlantic Oceans, generally found between thelatitudes of the Mediterranean and the Norwegian Sea. Therefore, the species experiences a large number of environmentsand adjusts its life cycle in response to changes in key abiotic pa rameters such as temperature. Using data from the Con-tinuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, we review the macroecology o f C. typic·us and factors that influence its spatialdistribution, phenology and year-to-year to decadal variability. The ecologica l preferences are identified and quantified .Mechanisms that allow the species to occur in such different environments are discussed and hypotheses a re proposedas to how the species adapts to its environment. We show that temperature and both quantity and qualit y of phytoplank-ton are important factors explaining the space and time variability of C. typiC11s. TI1ese results show that C. typicus will notrespond on ly to temperature increase in the region but a lso to changes in phytoplankton abundance. structure position o f this species with hydro-climatic forcing.© 2007 Elsevier Ltd . All rights reserved . Keywurds: Macroecology: North Atlantic Ocean; Centropages typic·us; CPR survey; Statistical analyses