Invited speakers:
Peter Wiebe (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA)
Lucas Brotz (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Macrozooplankton, i.e. zooplankton larger than 2 mm, encompass organisms characterized by very different size, features, and behaviour such as krill, amphipods, and jellyfish. Significant changes in the macrozooplankton have been observed in recent years. Changes in abundance and species composition of krill and amphipods have been recorded in some northern regions, while swarms of gelatinous macrozooplankton have been recurrently reported worldwide, causing concern due to their negative impact on different societal activities, such as tourism and fishery.
Even though macrozooplankton play a key role in the marine foodweb, their distribution, diversity, ecology, behaviour, and population dynamics are still largely unknown, due to challenges in their sampling and taxonomy.
In this session we encourage contributions investigating the ecology and spatio-temporal distribution of macrozooplankton, as well as their biogeochemical roles, life cycles, ecophysiology, and behaviours, in order to further our understanding of their role in a changing ocean.