Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystems

What we do: We undertake detailed studies of the meroplankton community at a range of latitudes involving daily quantification of the distribution and abundance of common larval forms identified.

Why we do it: The pelagic community of the Ross Sea consists of a permanent component (= holoplankton), exemplified by animals such as copepods, and a temporary component which is primarily made up from the larval stages of benthic marine invertebrates and fish (= the meroplankton).  To date little attention has been paid to the distribution and abundance patterns of the meroplankton, hampered in part by the inability to identify these larval “types” to the species-level. 

Some things we've found out so far: The distribution and abundance of the meroplankton community varies significantly along the latitudinal gradient.

This research contributes to the Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP).

Recent Publications:
Sewell, M.A. The meroplankton community of the northern Ross Sea: a preliminary comparison with the McMurdo Sound region. Antarctic Science 18(4): 595-602. 2006.

Sewell, M.A. Examination of the meroplankton community in the south-western Ross Sea, Antarctica, using a collapsible plankton net. Polar Biology 28: 119-131. 2005.