Zooplankton demography and trophic interactions in the sub-arctic North Atlantic

Title: Zooplankton demography and trophic interactions in the sub-arctic North Atlantic, and their coupling to physical oceanography: 40 years on from the NAO minimum This project will conduct a campaign of seagoing measurements in the Irminger Sea and adjacent areas to discover the relationships between oceanic circulation, the life cycle dynamics and demography of three key crustacean zooplankton (Calanus finmarchicus, Thysanoessa longicaudata and Meganyctiphanes norvegica) and the structure and productivity of the pelagic food web.

The impact of climate variability on these relationships will be examined by means of a comparative analysis of the data collected during the campaign with comparable measurements made in 1963 during the NORWESTLANT surveys, and with data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys.