Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The spatial distribution of euphausiids and walleye pollock in the eastern Bering Sea does not imply top-down control by predation

2014; Inter-Research; Volume: 503; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps10736

1616-1599

PH Ressler, Alex De Robertis, Stan Kotwicki,

Fish Ecology and Management Studies

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 503:111-122 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10736 The spatial distribution of euphausiids and walleye pollock in the eastern Bering Sea does not imply top-down control by predation Patrick H. Ressler*, Alex De Robertis, Stan Kotwicki NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115, USA *Corresponding author: patrick.ressler@noaa.gov ABSTRACT: Although euphausiids of the genus Thysanoessa ('krill') are a key zooplankton taxon in the Bering Sea ecosystem, the processes controlling variation in the standing stock of these animals are not well understood. Both forcing by temperature ('bottom-up') and predation ('top-down') have been proposed. If strong top-down forcing were present, a negative relationship would be expected between the standing stock of euphausiids and that of walleye pollock Gadus chalcogrammus, their single most important predator in the Bering Sea. We developed multiple regression models using survey data collected over several years to test the hypothesis of a negative relationship between local (mesoscale) densities of these animals. We used the models to evaluate the relative importance of pollock biomass and water temperature in predicting euphausiid biomass, and found that temperature was a far better predictor, a result that is not consistent with dominant top-down control of euphausiids by pollock predation. KEY WORDS: Alaska · Bering Sea · Walleye pollock · Theragra chalcogramma · Euphausiids · Thysanoessa · Gadus chalcogrammus · Acoustics · Top-down · Bottom-up · GAM Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ressler PH, De Robertis A, Kotwicki S (2014) The spatial distribution of euphausiids and walleye pollock in the eastern Bering Sea does not imply top-down control by predation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 503:111-122. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10736 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 503. Online publication date: April 29, 2014 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.