Zooplankton ecology of Norton Sound, Alaska

Abstract

The zooplankton distribution in Norton Sound was monitored for the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program. Salinity, temperature, and predation were investigated as factors controlling species composition and community structure. Sampling was concentrated along the eastern coast of Norton Sound during July and August, 1976. The copepod Acartia clausi and the cladocerans Evadne sp. and Podon sp. were numerically dominant in the samples. These species are able to tolerate the widely ranging salinities and temperatures of the coastal waters. The A. clausi population abundance was correlated with water temperature, while cladoceran and larval mollusc populations were correlated with salinity. No differences in species composition were discerned between stations along the shallow coast; however, the seaward community contained a greater diversity of organisms supporting a larger planktonic carnivore biomass. Zooplankton was a numerically dominant item in the diets of many fish species, although the epibenthic mysid community was volumetrically most important.