Pastaje (grazing) del microzooplancton en aguas de las Islas Canarias

Abstract

The impact of micrograzers upon primary production was measured north of the Canary Islands during 2010 and 2011 using the dilution technique. Grazing was estimated from chlorophyll a but also taking into account the different phototrophic organisms, that is, Synechococcus (Syn), Prochlorococcus (Pro), autotrophic picoeukaryotes (APE) and autotrophic nanoflagellates (ANF). Some experiments showed significant values of grazing upon Syn, Pro or APE although no significant grazing was measured on chlorophyll a. Furthermore, a positive relationship, this means growth instead of grazing, was observed in Syn and Pro in two experiments. Grazing on heterotrophic prokaryotes was also determined and the obtained values were always highly significant. These results showed that the impact of micrograzers upon primary production is a complex process which involves a different grazing pressure upon phytoplankton groups. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the pico, nano and microplanktonic community is essential to really understand the role of micrograzers and the trophic interactions among these groups in subtropical waters.