Full-depth zooplankton profiles over the deep bathyal of the NE Atlantic

Abstract

In the upper 1000 m, profiles tended to exhibit high variability and were influenced by diurnal migrations, but below, the distributions were nearly similar. The standing crop in the upper 400 m was remarkably low, possibly due to a bloom of salps and their grazing pressure on the phytoplankton crop. Possible causes which may have led to less of a decrease in zooplankton abundance at greater depths (below 2500 m) such as food supply, resuspension, upward flux, faunal changes and trophic interactions are discussed. -from Authors