深远海浮游动物生态学研究进展

深远海浮游生态系统依据水深的差别可以被划分为几个子系统,包括上层、中层、深层和深渊层等。目前大量的研究结果表明在海洋上层,由于光照、温度、海冰和营养盐补充等因素的影响,浮游生物群落往往呈现出显著的时空变化。但在海洋中层及更深的区域,传统观点认为随着水深的增加,海洋的理化环境趋向于稳定,在这一区域生态系统的时空变化要弱于海洋上层。同时受调查技术和经费的限制,人们对于这一广阔区域内浮游生态系统时空变化规律的认识要局限的多。随着我国海洋科学的发展和海洋强国战略的实施,海洋科学研究也逐渐由过去的以近海研究为主发展到当前的近海、边缘海和深远海研究协同发展。但与我国近海浮游生态学过去数十年间积累的大量研究成果相比,我国科学家对深远海,特别是中层、深层和深渊层浮游生态学方面的研究极为缺乏。从大洋浮游动物群落的垂直分布及其变化、种间关系与生态位分化、深海浮游动物群落在碳沉降和生物地球化学循环中的作用等多个角度全面总结了当前国内外深海浮游生态学的研究进展,同时介绍过去十余年来深海浮游生态学研究技术手段上的巨大进步,以期为今后国内同行的研究提供参考和借鉴。

A review of open ocean zooplankton ecology

The open-sea ecosystem is usually divided into several subsystems: epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, abyssopelagic zones, etc. Many findings indicated that plankton communities showed significant temporal and spatial variations in the epipelagic zone, mainly because of the variations of light, temperature, ice, nutrient supplements, etc. However, in the mesopelagic and deeper zones, more stable physical and chemical environments with increased depths resulted in weaker temporal and spatial variations of ecosystems than those in the epipelagic zone. Besides, our knowledge about the general patterns of the temporal and spatial variation of deep-sea ecosystems has been seriously restricted by limited investigation technology and funding. With the development of marine science and the implementation of marine strategies, the focus of our marine research has evolved from the limited neritic area to coordination of neritic, marginal, and open seas. However, China''s scientific contribution to deep-sea ecology, especially zooplankton ecology of the mesopelagic, bathypelagic, and abyssopelagic zones, has been more limited than that of the neritic zone in the past several decades. The present paper provides an overview of the current progress of deep-sea zooplankton ecology, including the vertical distribution and variation of deep-sea zooplankton communities, interspecific relationships, and niche differentiation, and their roles in carbon deposition and the biogeochemical cycle, etc. Furthermore, the investigation technology of deep-sea zooplankton ecology has developed remarkably in recent years.