Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E2

Ecology of Calanus finmarchicus around Iceland

Höfundar / Authors: Ástþór Gíslason

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: Hafrannsóknastofun - Rannsókna- og ráðgjafarstofnun hafs og vatna (Marine and Freshwater Research Institute)

Kynnir / Presenter: Ástþór Gíslason

The presentation reviews the distribution patterns life cycles, productivity and long-term changes of Calanus finmarchicus in Icelandic waters, based on data that have been collected in various earlier research projects of the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute. C. finmarchicus is one of the most important components of the pelagic ecosystems of the North-Atlantic, and around Iceland it makes up c. 40-80% of the individuals. Off Iceland it is more abundant in the relatively warm Atlantic water to the south and west of the island, than to the north and east. Productivity of the species is also generally higher off the south and west coasts than in the north and east. C. finmarchicus overwinter at depth, ascend to the surface layers in late winter and spawn during April-June, with one main generation being produced during the summer. South of Iceland, a part of the stock may produce a second generation. Great inter-annual changes have been observed in abundance and stages structure of C. finmarchicus around Iceland. The variations are not in tune in south and north, indicating that the C. finmarchicus abundance may be influenced by different forcing factors in the two regions. In the north the year-to-year variability has been related to freshwater thickness west of Iceland and temperature north of the island.