ABSTRACT: Calanus sinicus is the dominant copepod species in the coastal waters of China. We studied its population dynamics using an individual-based model (IBM) based on physiological processes at the individual level. The model includes modules describing development, growth, reproduction, mortality, diel vertical migration and diapause. Development, growth and reproduction are affected mainly by temperature and food concentration. Mortality includes routine mortality of stage plus density-dependent mortality, and weight-dependent mortality for N1–C6 stages. Control of seasonal diapause is based on lipid accumulation and lipid metabolism. The model was applied in a 1-dimensional water column located in the central Yellow Sea, and simulations showed that the population of C. sinicus peaks twice in 1 yr, with the earlier peak depending strongly on the phytoplankton bloom in spring, and the later (December) peak relying on lipid-stored energy from the over-summering population dominated by diapausing C5s. The model population of C. sinicus goes through 3 generations in 1 yr, and the over-summering population of diapausing C5s consists of both first (G1) and second (G2) generation individuals. Coupled with more extensive field observations of abundance and biomass of C. sinicus, an IBM can be forced using output from an integrated hydrodynamic-nutrient-phytoplankton model to examine the processes responsible for the spatial-temporal variation of C. sinicus throughout its range in the Yellow Sea.
KEY WORDS: Individual-based model · Calanus sinicus · Population dynamics · Diapause · Lipids · Yellow Sea
Full text in pdf format Supplementary material | Cite this article as: Wang L, Wei H, Batchelder HP
(2014) Individual-based modelling of Calanus sinicus population dynamics in the Yellow Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 503:75-97. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10725
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