Community ecology of pelagic copepods in tropical coastal waters

Abstract

Tropical copepod communities are more diverse than those of temperate ecosystems, in large part due to the occurrence of multiple species of small copepods belonging to the families Oithonidae and Paracalanidae. We contrast the communities found in tropical estuaries, coasts and the epipelagic of shelf seas based on our own studies in Australian and Indonesian waters and compare these to other tropical systems. Trophic factors related to the predominance of microbial food webs in tropical seas are important in shaping tropical copepod communities, as are swarming and emergence behaviors. 'Tropicalization' of plankton resulting from global warming may result in these communities becoming more widespread.