Microzooplankton Affecting Lower and Upper Food-Web Dynamics in Changing Aquatic Systems

Dear Colleagues,

While knowledge on biodiversity and food web interactions in the plankton has increased considerably during the last decades, community composition, seasonality/biodiversity patterns, and the trophic role of small-sized protozoan (e.g., ciliates and dinoflagellates) and metazoan grazers (e.g., copepod nauplii, meroplanktonic larvae) at the base of planktonic food-webs remain poorly understood. Microzooplankton is considered as a primary grazer of phytoplankton, with a crucial role as a trophic intermediary between primary producers and mesozooplankton (copepods, meroplanktonic larvae, ichthyoplankton). However, ecological studies on microzooplankton are often challenged by difficulties in taxonomic identification, time-consuming analytical efforts, and the necessity of sampling efforts at a high spatial and temporal resolution. This Special Issue aims at stressing the relevance of microzooplankton in aquatic systems in terms of biodiversity and ecological function in the pelagic realm in order to understand and parameterize this component of the plankton properly in ecological and predictive models. Special emphasis will be on studies addressing changes in planktonic systems in the light of climate change, thus taking the strong thermal and functional responses of microzooplankton into account. Contributions from marine and freshwater microzooplankton research are invited, ranging from field and experimental approaches, molecular/traditional taxonomy, ecology, modeling, environmental sciences, and climate change biology. The objective of the Special Issue is to enhance our understanding on the role of microzooplankton in aquatic systems, to tackle challenges and develop perspectives for future microzooplankton research.

Dr. Nicole Aberle-Malzahn
Guest Editor

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