Annual variations in community structure of mesozooplankton by short-term sampling in Jangmok harbor of Jinhae Bay

Abstract

The annual variation of mesozooplankton community in the Jangmok harbor of Jinhae Bay was studied in relation to environmental variables. Sampling was carried out weekly from January to December 2009. During the study periods, mesozooplankton community consisted of 44 taxa and the annual mean abundance was 8308 inds. m -3. The maximum abundance was observed to be 50043 inds. m -3 in August and the minimum in April with 1013 inds. m -3. Of these, Penilia avirostris, cirripedia larvae, Evadne tergestina, Acartia omorii, Oikopleura spp., Paracalanus parvus s. l., Eurytemora pacifica, Podon spp., Oithona spp., and Acartia steueri were observed as dominant species in Jangmok bay and they also contributed to 79% of total mesozooplankton. According to non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and cluster analysis based on the mesozooplankton community data from each season, the community was divided into three groups. The first group included appearence species in winter and spring season, which is mainly dominated the copepod such as A. omorii and E. pacifica. The second and third group was composed with observed species in summer and autumn, respectively. Based on the SIMPER (similarity percentages), P. avirostris in summer and cirripedia larvae in autumn were significantly dominated. Our results indicate that although the mesozooplankton abundances in Jangmok harbor fluctuated abruptly, its annual variation was strongly influenced by water temperature.