Characteristics and renewal of zooplankton communities under extreme environmental stresses in the oligotrophic hypersaline Arabian Gulf
Journal
Progress in Oceanography
Journal Volume
201
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Liu, H.
Nour El-Din, N.
Rowe, G.
Al-Ansi, M.
Soliman, Y.
Nunnally, C.
Quigg, A.
Al-Ansari, I.S.
Al-Maslamani, I.
Abdel-Moati, M.A.
Abstract
Impacts of the exceptionally high temperature and salinity on species composition, abundance, biomass and diversity of zooplankton communities were examined in the central Arabian (Persian) Gulf in late winter and summer of 2010 and 2011. Remarkably diverse zooplankton assemblages were characterized with small calanoids (Paracalanus aculeatus and Temora longicornis), cyclopoids (Oithona nana, Oithona plumifera, Corycaeus flaccus and Corycaeus lautus) and harpacticoids (Euterpina acutifrons) with relatively low abundance and biomass. Overall, the low biomass and abundance were not significantly associated with phytoplankton, whereas zooplankton faunal similarities were significantly correlated with water properties measured as environmental distances across sampling sites. Spatially, the lowest abundance, biomass and diversity occurred in extremely saline nearshore waters off the western Qatar peninsula, whereas the highest abundance, biomass and diversity consistently appeared at northeast offshore locations that periodically encounter nutrient and species-rich but low-salinity water entering the Arabian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. Numerically, the relative dominance of calanoids along with lower salinity and high chlorophyll-a concentration in the northeast Arabian Gulf implies that zooplankton populations are likely replenished by the seasonal (summer) transport of species from the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, which may explain partly the high variations of species richness and zooplankton abundance previously reported in the region. Given increasing evidence of climate-change induced responses of zooplankton, our findings suggest that in the semi-closed Arabian Gulf resident populations stressed by the harsh environment are likely to continue to be sustained only by invading water masses during the summer. ? 2021
Subjects
Arabian Gulf
Climate change
Ecosystems
Environmental stresses
Zooplankton
Offshore oil well production
Saline water
Calanoid
Community IS
Environmental stress
High salinity
Highest temperature
Hypersaline
Species composition
Zooplankton communities
Biomass
chlorophyll a
environmental factor
environmental stress
extreme event
high temperature
oligotrophic environment
species diversity
species richness
zooplankton
Arabian Sea
Gulf of Oman
Indian Ocean
Persian Gulf
Strait of Hormuz
Type
journal article