16  Copepods

Description Copepod biomass anomalies represent variation in northern copepods (cold-water crustacean zooplankton species rich in wax esters and fatty acids) and southern copepods (smaller species with lower fat content and nutritional quality). Northern copepods usually dominate the summer zooplankton community along the Newport Line, while southern species dominate winter. Positive northern copepod anomalies generally correlate with stronger returns of Chinook salmon to Bonneville Dam and coho salmon to coastal Oregon (Peterson et al. 2014). Historically, northern copepods typically have been favored by La Niña and negative PDO conditions (Keister et al. 2011; Fisher, Peterson, and Rykaczewski 2015).

Northern copepod biomass anomaly 44.6N

Southern copepod biomass anomaly 44.6N

Copepod species richness anomaly

Indicator Download

ERDDAP™ link:

https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/cciea_EI_COP.html

References

Fisher, Jennifer L, William T Peterson, and Ryan R Rykaczewski. 2015. “The impact of El Niño events on the pelagic food chain in the northern California Current.” Global Change Biology 21 (12): 4401–14.
Keister, Julie E, E Di Lorenzo, CA Morgan, Vincent Combes, and WT Peterson. 2011. “Zooplankton species composition is linked to ocean transport in the Northern California Current.” Global Change Biology 17 (7): 2498–2511.
Peterson, William T, Jennifer L Fisher, Jay O Peterson, Cheryl A Morgan, Brian J Burke, and Kurt L Fresh. 2014. “Applied fisheries oceanography: Ecosystem indicators of ocean conditions inform fisheries management in the California Current.” Oceanography 27 (4): 80–89.