Potential bottom-up and top-down control of large microzooplankton in response to contrasting productive scenarios in the tropical southwestern Atlantic

Abstract

Large microzooplankton, comprising organisms generally between 64 and 200 μm, plays a significant trophic role in marine ecosystems as primary or secondary consumers. In oligotrophic systems such as the Tropical Southwestern Atlantic, where primary production is dominated by Cyanobacteria, they provide a pivotal link between the basis of food webs and higher trophic levels. In this region, seasonal variations in circulation and continental runoff and wind mixing induce heightened phytoplankton biomass during autumn when compared to a less productive scenario observed in spring, leading to increased abundances of higher trophic levels. In order to establish the connection between primary producers and these higher trophic levels, we investigated the dynamics of large microzooplankton abundance in response to variations in phytoplankton biomass across different systems in the Tropical Southwestern Atlantic. Our findings highlight the complex interactions between bottom-up and top-down control mechanisms that shape large microzooplankton assemblages in these ecosystems. The increase in primary production was accompanied by an observable increase in the abundances of large microzooplankton organisms over the continental shelf, thereby supporting the hypothesis of bottom-up control. In contrast, offshore, in the South Equatorial Current System, a lower abundance of large microzooplankton was observed in the more productive scenario. The intricate relationships between large microzooplankton and higher trophic levels, particularly planktonic cnidarians, appear to be a key driver of these contrasting patterns. The presence of voracious gelatinous predators in the offshore systems, suggests a scenario in which top-down predation may counteract the expected bottom-up response of large microzooplankton to increased phytoplankton biomass. This indicates the importance of considering the entire trophic web when analysing the responses of large microzooplankton to changes in primary production.