Abundance of microzooplankton determined during the EisenEx cruise ANT-XVIII/2 to the South Atlantic

The dynamics, composition and grazing impact of microzooplankton were studied during the in situ iron fertilisation experiment EisenEx in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone in austral spring (November 2000). During the 21 day experiment, protozooplankton and small metazooplankton were sampled from the mixed layer inside and outside the patch using Niskin bottles. Aplastidic dinoflagellates increased threefold in abundance and biomass in the first 10 d of the experiment, but decreased thereafter to values twofold higher than pre-fertilisation values. The decline after day 10 is attributed to increasing grazing pressure by copepods. They also constrained ciliate abundances and biomass which were higher inside the fertilised patch than outside but highly variable. Copepod nauplii abundance also remained stable whereas biomass doubled. Numbers of copepodites and adults of small copepod species increased threefold inside the patch, but doubled in surrounding waters. Grazing rates estimated using the dilution method suggest that microzooplankton grazing constrained pico- and nanoplankton populations, but species capable of feeding on large diatoms (dinoflagellates and small copepods including possibly nauplii) were selectively predated by the metazoan community. Thus, iron fertilisation of a developing spring phytoplankton assemblage resulted in a trophic cascade which favoured dominance of the bloom by large diatoms.