Plasticity and seasonality of the vertical migration behaviour of Antarctic krill using acoustic data from fishing vessels

Bahlburg D, Hüppe L, Böhrer T, Thorpe SE, Murphy EJ, Berger U, Meyer B (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Royal Society Open Science Royal Society

Book Volume: 10

Article Number: 230520

Journal Issue: 9

DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230520

Abstract

Understanding the vertical migration behaviour of Antarctic krill is important for understanding spatial distribution, ecophysiology, trophic interactions and carbon fluxes of this Southern Ocean key species. In this study, we analysed an eight-month continuous dataset recorded with an ES80 echosounder on board a commercial krill fishing vessel in the southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Our analysis supports the existing hypothesis that krill swarms migrate into deeper waters during winter but also reveals a high degree of variability in vertical migration behaviour within seasons, even at small spatial scales. During summer, we found that behaviour associated with prolonged surface presence primarily occurred at low surface chlorophyll a concentrations whereas multiple ascent-descent cycles per day occurred when surface chlorophyll a concentrations were elevated. The high plasticity, with some krill swarms behaving differently in the same location at the same time, suggests that krill behaviour is not a purely environmentally driven process. Differences in life stage, physiology and type of predator are likely other important drivers. Finally, our study demonstrates new ways of using data from krill fishing vessels, and with the routine collection of additional information in potential future projects, they have great potential to significantly advance our understanding of krill ecology.

Authors with CRIS profile

Thomas Böhrer Lehrstuhl für Paläoumwelt

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg DE Germany (DE) British Antarctic Survey GB United Kingdom (GB) Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Bahlburg, D., Hüppe, L., Böhrer, T., Thorpe, S.E., Murphy, E.J., Berger, U., & Meyer, B. (2023). Plasticity and seasonality of the vertical migration behaviour of Antarctic krill using acoustic data from fishing vessels. Royal Society Open Science, 10(9). https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230520

MLA:

Bahlburg, Dominik, et al. "Plasticity and seasonality of the vertical migration behaviour of Antarctic krill using acoustic data from fishing vessels." Royal Society Open Science 10.9 (2023).

BibTeX: Download