Showing papers by "Lars Stemmann published in 2020"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate whether an environmental change might have caused the decrease in small pelagic fish condition and size in the Mediterranean Sea, leading to an important fishery crisis.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative study was performed with a unified methodology in six fjords located along the west coasts of Norway and Svalbard, and the results of this integrative across-system study constitute a necessary baseline for future monitoring of changes in the zooplankton communities, which are likely to occur in response to climate change at high latitudes.
16 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that changes in phytoplankton density and composition trigger the success of a dominant larvacean species (an undescribed appendicularian) and transcriptional signature to the autotroph bloom suggests key functions in specific physiological processes, i.e., energy metabolism, muscle contraction, membrane trafficking, and proteostasis.
Abstract: The planktonic tunicates appendicularians and thaliaceans are highly efficient filter feeders on a wide range of prey size including bacteria and have shorter generation times than any other marine grazers. These traits allow some tunicate species to reach high population densities and ensure their success in a favourable environment. However, there are still few studies focusing on which genes and gene pathways are associated with responses of pelagic tunicates to environmental variability. Herein, we present the effect of food availability increase on tunicate community and gene expression at the Marquesas Islands (South-East Pacific Ocean). By using data from the Tara Oceans expedition, we show that changes in phytoplankton density and composition trigger the success of a dominant larvacean species (an undescribed appendicularian). Transcriptional signature to the autotroph bloom suggests key functions in specific physiological processes, i.e., energy metabolism, muscle contraction, membrane trafficking, and proteostasis. The relative abundance of reverse transcription-related Pfams was lower at bloom conditions, suggesting a link with adaptive genetic diversity in tunicates in natural ecosystems. Downstream of the bloom, pelagic tunicates were outcompeted by copepods. Our work represents the first metaomics study of the biological effects of phytoplankton bloom on a key zooplankton taxon.
3 citations