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Studies of HAB Effects on Copepods to Inform Ecosystem Models for Improved Prediction of Harmful Algal Blooms
In a recent study sponsored by the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Science's Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algae Blooms Program, researchers concluded that the deleterious effects of Karenia brevis on the copepod Acartia tonsa were due to poor nutritional quality rather than toxicity, resulting in copepod starvation. This finding improves understanding of the interaction between zooplankton and Karenia brevis, the Florida “red tide” organism, and will inform future ecosystems models used to predict harmful algal blooms (HABs). Researchers compared nutritional status, egg production and hatching, and fecal pellet production for Acartia tonsa when they were fed toxic K. brevis, fed another non-toxic dinoflagellate, or not fed at all. For more information, please contact Quay.Dortch@noaa.gov
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