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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1448718

Ecological insight of seasonal plankton succession to monitor shellfish aquaculture ecosystem interactions

Provisionally accepted
Hannah Sharpe Hannah Sharpe 1*Daria Gallardi Daria Gallardi 2Helen J. Gurney-Smith Helen J. Gurney-Smith 1Thomas Guyondet Thomas Guyondet 3Christopher W. McKindsey Christopher W. McKindsey 4Anaïs Lacoursière-Roussel Anaïs Lacoursière-Roussel 1*
  • 1 St. Andrews Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada
  • 2 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
  • 3 Gulf Fisheries Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
  • 4 Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Mont‐Joli, Quebec, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Bivalve aquaculture has direct and indirect effects on plankton communities, which are highly sensitive to short-term (seasonal, interannual) and long-term climate changes, although how these dynamics alter aquaculture ecosystem interactions is poorly understood. Here, we investigate seasonal patterns in plankton abundance and community structure spanning several size fractions from 0.2 µm up to 5 mm, in a deep aquaculture embayment in northeast Newfoundland, Canada. Using flow cytometry and FlowCam imaging, we observed a clear seasonal relationship between fraction sizes driven by water column stratification (freshwater input, nutrient availability, light availability, water temperature). Plankton abundance decreased proportionally with increasing size fraction, aligning with size spectra theory. Within the bay, greater mesozooplankton abundance, and a greater relative abundance of copepods, was observed closest to the aquaculture lease. No significant spatial effect was observed for phytoplankton composition. While the months of August to October showed statistically similar plankton composition and size distribution slopes (i.e., food chain efficiency) and could be used for interannual variability comparisons of plankton composition, sampling for longer periods could capture long-term phenological shifts in plankton abundance and composition. Conclusions provide guidance on optimal sampling to monitor and assess aquaculture pathways of effects.

    Keywords: Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Shellfish, Flow Cytometry, flowcam imaging, size distribution, pelagic food web, Coastal embayment

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sharpe, Gallardi, Gurney-Smith, Guyondet, McKindsey and Lacoursière-Roussel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hannah Sharpe, St. Andrews Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), St. Andrews, E5B 2L9, New Brunswick, Canada
    Anaïs Lacoursière-Roussel, St. Andrews Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), St. Andrews, E5B 2L9, New Brunswick, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.