Resumen

SAMPAIO DE SOUZA, Christiane et al. Seasonal and spatial trends in the mesozooplankton community at pluriannual temporal series in the NW of the Alborán Sea, Spain. Rev. biol. mar. oceanogr. [online]. 2005, vol.40, n.1, pp. 45-54. ISSN 0718-1957.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-19572005000100005.

The annual cycle of mesozooplankton was studied over nine years from 1992 to 2000 at a nine stations in the NW of the Alborán Sea, with the aim of assessing seasonal patterns and interannual trends in biomass, composition and density. Maximum zooplankton abundances were observed in summer and autumn, while minimum zooplankton abundances were observed in winter. Copepods were the most abundant group in spring, autumn and winter, while in summer cladocerans were the dominant group followed by copepods. The dominance of cladocerans in summer is basically due to the high abundance of Penillia avirostis. The study of trends showed that the relative abundance of copepods increased through out the period of study, although this increase only was significant in the eastward stations, where the influence of Atlantic water is higher. At the interannual scale an increasing trend was recorded over the sampling period for biomass and density. The mesozooplankton diversity showed a decreasing trend. The density of copepods decreased  while cladocerans showed a positive correlation with temperature. In spite of those interannual variations, the different phases of the annual cycle and the occurrence of several plankton species were remarkably regular

Palabras clave : Zooplankton; biomass; spatial distribution; trends; Mediterranean Sea.