#zooplankton — Public Fediverse posts

#ElNino is disrupting the Pacific’s marine food web from the bottom up

"The ecological consequences of this #nutrientdecline would mean less food available for #zooplankton, as well as for fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, the NASA Earth Observatory article said. This affects fisheries: Peru’s anchovy fisheries, for example, saw significant declines in catch during previous El Niño events, driven by warmer surface waters, reduced upwelling, and lower phytoplankton levels. This year, the country has repeatedly suspended its vital anchovy fishery to protect vulnerable fish stocks, while starving pelicans have begun invading urban ports in search of food."

https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/el-nino-is-disrupting-the-pacifics-marine-food-web-from-the-bottom-up/

Illustration by Ernst Haeckel, from Die Radiolarien (Rhizopoda radiaria) (1862).

Source: Harvard University / Biodiversity Heritage Library

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/351840b4-3007-447b-a2c0-1e4255751bce

#radiolaria #patterns #science #zooplankton #art #publicdomain

In der #Lagune von #Venedig breiten sich invasive #Arten wie die kannibalische #Rippenqualle und die #Blaukrabbe durch wärmere #Meere aus.

Beide bedrohen das #Ökosystem und verringern die Fänge deutlich. #Qual­len fressen #Zooplankton sowie Eier und Larven wichtiger Arten. #Blaukrabben finden ganzjährig ideale Bedingungen und schädigen heimische #Muscheln und #Fische. Behörden suchen nach Wegen, die Folgen für Natur und regionale #Fischerei zu begrenzen.

https://de.euronews.com/green/2026/02/08/kannibalen-quallen-und-blaukrabben-neozoen-bedrohen-venedigs-fragile-lagune

#Klimawandel

A new IGB study shows just how sensitively #zooplankton respond to dam construction. In the White #Nile, decades of regulation have halved species diversity. With the new Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (#GERD), the Blue Nile may now face similar losses in #biodiversity.
https://www.igb-berlin.de/en/news/zooplankton-nile-diversity-under-threat-dams
#hydropower

Waste discharged from deep-sea #mining operations in the Pacific’s #biodiverse Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) could disrupt marine life in the midwater “twilight zone” — a vital region 200-1,500 meters below #sea level that supports vast communities of #zooplankton , tiny animals that serve as the ocean’s basic food building blocks.
#Ecology #Environmental #MarineBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2025/11/eco11072501.html

6-Nov-2025
First study of its kind finds #DeepSeaMining waste threatens life and #foodwebs in the ocean’s dim “twilight zone”
Particle plumes ejected by #mining operations into deep #Pacific waters threaten food source of more than half of the #zooplankton types -- leading to bottom-up disruption of delicately balanced food system

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104607
#science #ecology #environment

New publication: Community Assembly of Cladoceran #Zooplankton in Relation to #Pond Age and the Establishment of #Macrophytes and #Fish. #communitycomposition #biodiversity
https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.70118

Industrial mercury emissions from Asia traced to open ocean zooplankton https://phys.org/news/2025-09-industrial-mercury-emissions-asia-ocean.html

#Asia #ocean #environment #zooplankton #industry #mercury #emissions

Tiny creature gorges, gets fat, and locks up planet-warming #carbon
These "unsung heroes" called #zooplankton gorge themselves and grow fat in spring before sinking hundreds of metres into the deep #ocean in Antarctica where they burn the fat.
This locks away as much planet-warming carbon as the annual #emissions of roughly 55 million petrol cars, stopping it from further warming our atmosphere, according to researchers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628nnz3rp9o?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#climate #climatechange

Seit 2013 gibt es im Greifswalder Bodden deutlich weniger Nahrung für #Heringslarven.

Ursache sind klimabedingte Verschiebungen im #Nahrungsnetz. Die Larven schlüpfen früher, finden aber zu wenig #Zooplankton und verhungern.

Auch höhere #Wassertemperaturen setzen ihnen zu. Der Rückgang des #Heringsnachwuchses gefährdet
#Fischbestände in der westlichen #Ostsee.

https://www.thuenen.de/de/newsroom/detail/weniger-heringsnachwuchs-in-der-ostsee

#Klimawandel #Meeresforschung #Phänologie #Fischerei #Küstenökosysteme #ThünenInstitut

#BBCNews - Tiny creatures gorge, get fat, and help fight global warming
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628nnz3rp9o
#zooplankton #ClimateChange

27-Jun-2025
Tiny ocean migrants play a massive role in #SouthernOcean #carbonStorage

A groundbreaking study has revealed that small but mighty #zooplankton—including #copepods, #krill, and #salps—are key players in the Southern #Ocean’s ability to absorb and store #carbon.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1089054 #science #ecology #climateCatastrophe

Mithilfe von #Satellitendaten erkennt ein neues Verfahren das winzige #Zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus, das für Nordatlantische #Glattwale lebenswichtig ist.

Die Methode hilft, Fressgebiete im Golf von Maine vorherzusagen. Das könnte Kollisionen mit Schiffen und Verwicklungen in Fischereigeräte reduzieren. Die Daten stammen von NASA-Instrumenten wie #MODIS und künftig #PACE.

https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1507638

#Weltnaturschutz #Meeresforschung #Klimawandel #NASA #Ozeanbeobachtung #Wale #Artenschutz

#Tiefseebergbau bedroht nicht nur den #Meeresboden, sondern auch das empfindliche Leben in der mittleren #Wasserzone.

Die geplante Einleitung von Abwässern in etwa 1.200 Metern Tiefe könnte #Nahrungsnetze stören, #Zooplankton schädigen und die #Kohlenstoffbindung im Ozean beeinträchtigen.

In der kaum erforschten Clarion Clipperton Zone sind über 90 % der Arten noch unbekannt.

https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-mining-threatens-sea-life-in-a-way-no-one-is-thinking-about-by-dumping-debris-into-the-thriving-midwater-zone-247690

#Tiefsee #Klimaschutz #Meeresforschung #MarineÖkologie #Biodiversität #Umweltpolitik

Undersea mountains are key hubs for sharks https://phys.org/news/2025-02-undersea-mountains-key-hubs-sharks.html paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003016

"#Zooplankton were twice as common at shallow #seamounts than in the open ocean, while #shark biomass was 41 times higher... #FilterFeeders may benefit from prey being blown over the peak, and the peak may also stop prey species from retreating into deeper water... Also, some predators appear to use seamounts as hubs to gather, socialize, mate or rest"

#Sharks #Animals #Ecology #Plankton

https://www.pdx.edu/research/news/microplastics-widespread-seafood-oregonians-eat-psu-study-finds

“We found that the smaller organisms that we sampled seem to be ingesting more #anthropogenic, non-nutritious particles,” Granek said. “Shrimp and small fish, like herring, are eating smaller food items like #zooplankton…and these anthropogenic particles may resemble zooplankton and thus be taken up for animals that feed on zooplankton.”

#microplastics