Sessions
Plenary Speakers:
Zooplankton in “changing ocean”
Grégory Beaugrand (Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Université des Sciences et Technologies
de Lille 1, France)
Role of zooplankton in biogeochemical
cycles
Deborah Steinberg
(Virginia Institute of Marine Science, USA)
Outbreaks of gelatinous zooplankton
Shin-ichi Uye
(Hiroshima University, Japan)
Modes of climate and food web variability
in high latitude oceans
Kendra L. Daly
(University of South Florida, USA)
Composition and succession of zooplankton
communities - A global comparison
Torkel Gissel Nielsen
(National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical
University of Denmark, Denmark)
Email your questions to Open
Plenary Session Speakers
Plenary Speaker:
Outcomes from the Symposium
Roger Harris
(Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK)
Email your questions to Closing Plenary
Session Speaker
Convenors:
Delphine Bonnet (Université Montpellier
2, France)
Catherine Johnson (Bedford Institute of Oceanography,
Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Angel Lopez-Urrutia (Instituto Español
de Oceanografía, Spain)
Anthony Richardson (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric
Research and University of Queensland, Australia)
Invited Speaker:
Mark
Ohman (Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
UCSD, USA)
Climate variability and change influence zooplankton production and
community structure through changes in the physical and chemical environment,
as well as through changes in primary producers and zooplankton predator
dynamics. Understanding and predicting impacts of climate change on
secondary production and zooplankton communities will be critical in
the near future to managing aquatic resources and mitigating the impact
of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors on aquatic ecosystems.
In this session, we encourage presentations that contribute to understanding
how climate change influences zooplankton production and community dynamics,
including climate effects on zooplankton population growth rates, distribution
and abundance, seasonal timing, community structure and interactions,
interactions with higher and lower trophic levels, and food web structure.
This session will embrace studies of both marine and freshwater systems,
a diverse range of zooplankton taxa including microzooplankton and gelatinous
zooplankton, and a broad range of approaches including modeling, experimental
work, and field observations.
Email your questions to S1
Convenors
Email your questions to S1 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
Sanae Chiba (Research Institute for Global Change,
JAMSTEC, Japan)
Enric Saiz (Institut de Ciencies del Mar , Spain)
Invited Speaker:
Diana
Stoecker (University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science, USA)
Zooplankton play a key role in the pelagic realm as a major link between
primary producers and higher trophic levels, either directly or indirectly
via protozooplankton, therefore being subject to either bottom-up
and top-down control. Regionally-specific differences in food web structure
and ecological interactions between trophic levels largely influence
not only the biological productivity but also the biogeochemical processes
acting in the region, such as the efficiency of the biological carbon
pump. Recent studies have reported sound changes in zooplankton communities
responding to various climatic and anthropogenic forcing, such as species
diversity and size composition, seasonality, geographical distribution,
etc., yet the mechanisms and consequences of those changes
in terms of the functioning of the system and biogeochemical processes
in the water column have not been fully investigated. In this session
we aim for a better understanding of the complexity of the trophic interactions
mediated by micro- and mesozooplankton, either as prey or as predator,
in marine food webs, and in particular highlight studies that help explain
how the above-mentioned spatio-temporal changes in zooplankton communities
would affect biological production as well as biogeochemical processes.
We expect papers on this scope, ranging from the smallest scales dealing
with individual behavior to the largest scales dealing with long-term
community change analysis, based on either laboratory experiments, field
observation, and model simulation.
Email your questions to S2
Convenors
Email your questions to S2 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
Hans-Jürgen Hirche (Alfred Wegener Institute,
Germany)
Toru Kobari (Kagoshima University, Japan)
Jeffrey A. Runge (School of Marine Sciences and
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine, USA)
Invited Speaker:
Don
Deibel (Memorial University, Canada)
Each zooplankton species has its own set of life history traits, influenced
by its taxonomic lineage (e.g., gelatinous zooplankton, copepods,
euphausids), the physical characteristics of the environment in which
it resides and the suite of other species with which it interacts. In
seasonal environments, life histories may include a dormant phase, which
may occur at any life stage and vary in intensity from almost complete
shutdown of metabolism to merely arrested reproductive activity. Losses
from a population due to advection during dormancy or active phases
may prevent life cycle closure, for example in upwelling zones, determining
which species are dominant. Immigration from other populations may be
required to sustain species abundance within a particular region. In
this session we encourage presentations that together will depict the
variety of zooplankton life histories across all taxonomic groups and
how they interact with the physical environment at local, regional or
basin scales to determine species abundance and diversity patterns.
Email your questions to S3
Convenors
Email your questions to S3 Invited Speaker
Convenors:
David Fields (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences,
U.S.A)
Invited Speaker:
John
Dower (University of Victoria, BC, Canada)
Processes that occur at the level of the individual animal drive large
scale distribution patterns of zooplankton populations. At the scale
of the individual, motility, feeding rates, detection of signals, and
encounter rates with other individuals are the product of the interactions
between the individual and physical properties of their environment
(e.g. viscosity, fluid motion, diffusion). Research on this
topic is inherently interdisciplinary. It includes fluid dynamics across
the viscous-inertial ranges, the study of functional morphology and
structural analysis, investigations into the sensory perception of both
mechanical and chemical cues, and much more. In this session, we invite
contributions that explore the intimate interactions of zooplankton
with their prey, predators, conspecifics, and their environment, framed
within the context of large-scale distribution patterns of zooplankton.
Email your questions to S4 Convenors
Email your questions to S4 Invited Speaker
Convenors:
Jenny Huggett (Ocean and Coastal Management, South
Africa)
Julie Keister (University of Washington, USA)
Invited Speaker:
Rubén
Escribano (COPAS, Universidad de Concepción, Chile)
Upwelling and coastal ecosystems exhibit high temporal and spatial
variability in their physical and biological structure, are extremely
productive, and are important to global fisheries and biogeochemical
cycles. The zooplankton which inhabit these systems are diverse, exhibit
a variety of life history strategies and physiological adaptations,
and are integral to trophic functioning. In coastal upwelling systems
in particular, zooplankton are exposed to strong alongshore and across-shelf
circulation and physical gradients which structure their distributions.
In addition, coastal regions are under increasing pressure from climate
and human impacts that may lead to shifts in species composition, dominance,
and distribution. In this session we will examine the behaviors, physiology,
community structure, and spatial and temporal patterns of zooplankton
in coastal ecosystems. Field, laboratory, and modeling studies will
be considered, with an emphasis on studies that elucidate mechanisms
of zooplankton variability in these highly dynamic regions.
Email your questions to S5
Convenors
Email your questions to S5 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
Angus Atkinson (British Antarctic Survey, UK)
Carin Ashjian (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
USA)
Invited Speaker:
Øystein
Varpe (Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway)
Polar waters and their marginal seas are characterised by low, fairly
stable temperatures, intense variation in solar radiation amplified
by winter ice cover, and high seasonal variation in pelagic primary
production. Further, the fastest warming regions on the planet are at
high latitudes. These habitats are undergoing dramatic environmental
changes such as summer sea ice retreat in the Western Arctic, and are
predicted to show the first signs of carbonate under-saturation. The
extreme polar conditions require adaptations by micro-, meso-, and macro-zooplankton
(herein “zooplankton”) including stenothermy, shrinkage,
use of sea ice, differing phenologies, seasonal migrations and diet
shifts plus pulsed reproduction and slow, strongly seasonal growth.
Some of these attributes make polar zooplankton potentially sensitive
even to small changes in temperature, sea ice extent, seasonality and
the timing of food. Polar ecosystems also can provide glimpses into
the future of climate change. They provide a natural test-bed to examine
both the sensitivity (e.g. physiological limits) and the resilience
(e.g. behavioural flexibility) of zooplankton. In this session we welcome
studies from high latitudes of both hemispheres, examining the response
of zooplankton to spatial and temporal environmental variability and
change. We welcome also broader scale comparative contributions (of
species, regions or hemispheres), especially those that explore the
mechanisms of sensitivity or resilience.
Email your questions to S6
Convenors
Email your quiestions to S6 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
Andrew Hirst (Queen Mary University of London,
UK)
Maria Koski (National Institute of Aquatic Resources,
Technical University of Denmark)
Invited Speaker:
Robert
Campbell (University of Rhode Island, USA)
The physiological and bioenergetics of zooplankton are central to nutrient
recycling, food-web transfer efficiency and biogeochemical transformations
(such as the modification of sinking flux) in the world oceans. If we
are to understand and model biogeochemical processes across a range
of scales, we need to continue to refine our understanding of the transformations
which zooplankton make. Further, physiology and bioenergetics are closely
allied to a species fitness, and hence species success. This session
aims to describe zooplankton physiology, to present frameworks on what
shapes these rates, and our ability to improve their prediction. We
expect to provide insights into the effects of physiological adaptations
on individual fitness, food-web processes and global biogeochemical
cycles, including considerations of changing environmental conditions.
Email your questions to S7
Convenors
Email your questions to S7 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
Hiroaki Saito (Tohoku National Fisheries Research
Institute, Japan)
Deborah Steinberg (Virginia Institute of Marine
Science, USA)
Invited Speaker:
Santiago
Hernandez-Leon (Universidad de Las Palmas
de GC, Spain)
Zooplankton play an integral role in the cycling of elements in the
sea. As key drivers of the biological pump, zooplankton feed in surface
waters and produce sinking fecal pellets, and actively transport dissolved
and particulate matter to depth via vertical migration. Zooplankton
grazing and metabolism transforms particulate organic matter into dissolved
forms, affecting primary producer populations, microbial remineralization,
and particle export to the ocean's interior. The elemental stoichiometry
of zooplankton and their prey often differ, resulting in non-Redfield
cycling of C, N and P. We invite papers on role of zooplankton (both
metazoan and protozoan) in biogeochemical cycles reflecting the significant
strides that have been made in this area, as well as identifying crucial
gaps in our knowledge. Topics may include, but are not limited to: the
role of zooplankton in the biological pump, mesopelagic and deep sea
processes, trophic interactions and nutrient cycling, ecological stoichiometry,
effects on biogeochemical cycling (measured or modeled) of human or
climate influenced changes in zooplankton community structure, and regional
comparisons or global syntheses of the importance of zooplankton in
biogeochemical cycles. This session theme is closely related to research
goals within IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem
Research).
Email your questions to S8
Convenors
Email your questions to S8
Invited Speaker
Convenors:
Claudio DiBacco (Bedford Institute of Oceanography,
Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Heidi L. Fuchs (Institute of Marine and Coastal
Sciences, Rutgers University, USA)
Fabian Tapia (Centro FONDAP-COPAS, Universidad
de Concepción, Chile)
Invited Speaker:
Jesús
Pineda (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
USA)
Meroplankton are transient members of the plankton and crucial to the
establishment and sustainability of marine communities. Local and global
marine stressors (e.g., habitat destruction, resource over-harvesting,
contaminant loading, climate change, introduction of non-native species)
will impact some species in diverse ways as individuals move through
both planktonic and benthic life stages. It is thus imperative to develop
a better understanding of larval processes at all functional levels,
from species to ecosystems. In this session, we welcome submissions
on all meroplankton-related topics, including but not limited to larval
behaviour and sensory ecology, dispersal and connectivity, invasions
and fisheries, design of marine reserves and effects of climate change
on larval processes.
Email your questions to S9
Convenors
Email your questions to S9 Invited
Speaker
Posters are invited on all aspects of zooplankton research, except
those covered by Topic Sessions (S1-S9).
Workshops
Convenors:
Harold P. Batchelder (Oregon State University,
USA)
Douglas C. Speirs (University of Strathclyde,
UK)
Invited Speaker:
Wendy
C. Gentleman (Dalhousie University, Canada)
This workshop will review the use of individual-based models (IBMs)
in zooplankton ecology, and the ongoing debate between those favouring
density-based population models and those favouring more flexible, but
more complex, simulation approaches.
Individual-based models are population models in which individual organisms,
or quasi-individuals representing homogeneous groups of individuals,
are explicitly represented as discrete elements of a computer simulation.
Individuals have their own state variables (or i-state configuration),
such as age, size, developmental stage, and physiological condition;
population-level dynamics arise as emergent properties of the interactions
among individuals and between individuals and their environment. This
approach contrasts with population-level models (PLM), or aggregated
mathematical models, in which population processes are described by
relationships between densities of individuals. Although PLMs can represent
individual properties, they do so through an i-state distribution over
a population rather than explicitly representing individuals.
One of the main appeals of IBMs is that they provide an easy way of
capturing population heterogeneity, or inter-population variability,
because stochastic processes impacting individuals can readily be incorporated
into simulations. When non-linear rate processes, the functional feeding
response for example, determine population growth, the mean behaviour
need not necessarily correspond to that predicted by using the underlying
mean rates in a deterministic PLM. Because corresponding IBMs represent
population heterogeneity explicitly and the population level outcomes
emerge from this, such difficulties are side-stepped. A second advantage
is that is much easier to introduce behavioural rules, especially those
relating to movement, which can be extremely hard to represent in PLMs
in a mathematically compact way. The inclusion of diel vertical migration
in IBMs of marine zooplankton, for example, has helped to demonstrate
the importance of such behaviour in the retention of populations in
productive coastal upwelling zones.
The most fundamental difference between IBMs and PLMs is the continuum
assumption underlying PLMs. At high trophic levels, when individual
organisms are sparse, the concept of density becomes problematic, and
IBMs are a natural tool. By contrast, for abundant and relatively homogeneously-distributed
organisms the computational cost of representing individuals over large
areas can be prohibitive. Many zooplankton populations, with complex
life-histories and behaviours, and widespread but often patchy distributions,
fall somewhere in the centre of this spectrum, thereby making the choice
of modelling approach particularly problematic. Computational costs,
and the large number of often un-measurable parameters, also mean that
IBMs are not practical tools when moving away from single species zooplankton
models to include coupling to higher and lower trophic levels. The workshop
will focus on new methods and current challenges in the unification
of individual level and population level approaches.
Email your questions to W1
Convenors
Email your questions to W1 W1
Invited Speaker
Convenors:
Erica Goetze (University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA)
Ryuji Machida (Smithsonian Institution, National
Museum of Natural History, USA)
Katja Peijnenburg (Institute for Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Invited Speaker:
Carol
Eunmi Lee (Center of Rapid Evolution (CORE),
University of Wisconsin, USA)
Molecular techniques have provided important insights into a number
of aspects of zooplankton ecology. For example, genetic markers have
been used to characterize the population structure of zooplankton species,
to assess the phylogenetic relationships among extant taxa, and to test
the specificity of their trophic niche. Phylogeographic studies have
also added a historical perspective to understanding contemporary species
distributions and demography. New zooplankton species are being discovered
via molecular studies, and research in DNA Barcoding and community meta-genetics
promises to greatly accelerate efforts to assess zooplankton diversity
in a range of ocean environments. These diverse ongoing research lines
rely on both conventional and emerging molecular techniques, and address
long-standing questions in biological oceanography. The purpose of this
workshop is to assess the current state-of-the-field of molecular and
genomic studies of marine zooplankton, and to discuss key research areas
that could be significantly advanced through creative application of
existing and emerging molecular techniques. For example, we are interested
in how molecular approaches could inform interdisciplinary studies of
(1) the effect of changing climate on zooplankton physiology, distribution,
or feeding ecology, (2) the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function,
and (3) the role of mesozooplankton in structuring pelagic food webs
through trophic ecology, among others. We envision a workshop with a
number of short presentations from the variety of active research areas
in zooplankton molecular ecology, followed by discussion focused on
specific research questions.
Email your questions to W2
Convenors
Email your questions to W2 Invited
Speaker
Convenors:
David Mackas (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries
and Oceans Canada)
Martin Edwards (Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for
Ocean Science, UK)
Invited Speaker:
Jenny
Huggett (Department of Environmental Affairs,
South Africa)
Zooplankton time series data are becoming not only more available,
but also more widely used as diagnostics of change in marine ecosystems.
Since the last International Zooplankton Symposium (2007), a lot has
happened. Several new time series sampling programs (rich but brief
in 2007) have become long enough to support broader analyses. SCOR Working
Group 125 carried out comparisons among many of the earlier and longer
time series. New visualization and statistical tools have been developed
and applied. And several ocean regions have undergone very strong fluctuations
of climate and zooplankton composition. For the 2011 workshop, part
of the schedule will be contributed papers. We continue to be especially
interested in between-regional teleconnections of decadal fluctuations,
and in zooplankton time series that go beyond biomass to include information
on variability of community composition, zoogeographic distributions,
phenology, and/or physiological condition, and in papers that examine
the role of zooplankton in marine ecosystem change and resilience. However,
we will also reserve time for on-site demos, discussions, and synthesis
efforts (so please bring your laptops, stocked with data tables and
favorite analysis tools in addition to your polished presentations).
Email your questions to W3
Convenors
Email your question to W3
Invited Speaker
Convenors:
So Kawaguchi (Australian Antarctic Division, Australia)
M. Brady Olson (Western Washington University,
USA)
Invited speaker:
Brad
Seibel (University of Rhode Island, USA)
Studies exploring the effects of ocean acidification on zooplankton
are scarce, and with few exceptions are limited to assessing direct
effects on zooplankton calcification. This focus on calcification, although
vitally important, constrains our ability to predict what effects ocean
acidification will have on zooplankton in a wider biological and ecological
context. For example, what are other direct, but sub-acute zooplankton
responses to ocean acidification? How might these responses alter zooplankton
interactions with their predators and prey? What may be the effects
on zooplankton-mediated nutrient cycling? Will the timing of transition
between zooplankton life histories be altered by ocean acidification?
How might secondary production change in response to acidification?
Will the magnitude of these effects be altered by interactions with
climate parameters synergistic with ocean acidification? This workshop
solicits participation from plankton biologists and ecologists that
wish to contribute to a dialog aimed at meeting these specific workshop
goals: (1) report on current research and/or discoveries regarding zooplankton
and ocean acidification, and (2) identify the critical research and
information needed to provide a framework for better predicting zooplankton
responses to ocean acidification.
Email your questions to W4
Convenors
Email your questions to W4 Invited Speaker
Convenors:
Mark Benfield (LSU, USA)
Phil Culverhouse (Plymouth University, UK)
Invited Speaker
Cabell
Davis (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
USA)
Advanced pattern recognition techniques are being applied to plankton
identification to automate sample specimen counting to generic level.
These tools, for example Zoo/Phyto Image and Zooprocess/Plankton Identify
offer fast semi-automatic identification. They are free and can analyse
the output from a flatbed scanner (Zoo/phyto Image), Zooscan and FlowCAM
instruments as well as from digital cameras and other sources. This
workshop will introduce the concepts and methods used, with some practical
experience in using the tools. Automation can allow many thousands of
specimens to be analysed daily. This workshop is a must for those wishing
to embrace this new technology.
The workshop is split into 4 blocks. The first block will present an
overview of current practices (manual and machine), together with the
shortcomings of manual identification (if you have a laptop, you can
take part in an identification experiment). We then introduce the basics
of machine identification (i.e., extracting measurements from
plankton images and using spreadsheets to show how images may be grouped
into clusters), using previously prepared data from a Zooimage or a
Zooscan machine. The third block will cover issues of machine calibration
and using it in routine sample analysis. We will close with a look what
is happening in leading laboratories around the world, and what the
future holds.
Email your questions to W5
Convenors
Email your questions to W5 Invited
Speaker
