Baleares Station
Mallorca Channel
Latitude:   39.4765     Longitude:   2.4272

 Associated Investigators:
Maria_Luz Fernandez_de_Puelles  

Related Web Sites:
[www.ba.ieo.es]  

Related Time Series:
[ Santander ]   [ A Coruña ]   [ Gijón/Xixón ]   [ Vigo ]   [ Cudillero ]   [ Mallorca (Mediterranean) ]   [ Málaga (Mediterranean) ]  

Mallorca "Station 1" is a fixed, offshore station five kilometers southwest of Mallorca island (39 28.59 N 2 25.63 E, Figure 1). Between January 1994 and December 2003, Station 1 was sampled every ten days aboard the small research vessel "Arola". Water samples for physical-chemical data were collected at depths of 5, 15, 25, 50 and 75 meters using 5 liter Niskin bottles. CTD data were recorded with a Seabird 19 probe, which was calibrated every two years. Monthly mean air temperature values for the general region, gathered from the Spanish Meteorological Institute, are also available from a coastal station located 20 kilometers from Station 1.

Zooplankton were sampled by means of oblique hauls from 75 meter depth to surface at a vessel speed of 2 knots with a bongo net fitted with 250 µm mesh. A General Oceanics flowmeter was fitted to each net to estimate the volume of water filtered. Immediately after collection, the zooplankton samples were split into subsamples for biomass and taxonomic analysis with a Folsom plankton splitter. Subsamples for taxonomic studies were preserved with 4% neutralised formaldehyde buffered with borax. Representative aliquots from both subsamples for taxonomic analysis were analyzed and the organisms identified to the level of main taxonomic groups, except for copepods and cladocerans, which were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. Subsamples for biomass were frozen (-20 C) for subsequent estimation of the biomass as dry weight.

This area experiences regular influxes of northern Mediterranean and Atlantic waters and their broad range of temperatures and salinities. The seasonal cycle of temperature includes a mixing period during winter followed by a stratified period of more than 6 months (May-October), which coincides with the period of lowest zooplankton biomass. Phytoplankton blooms generally occur in January and February, and sometimes in late spring. Zooplankton biomass peaks in winter (March), spring (May), and at the end of summer (September), throughout which the dominant zooplankton group is the copepods.

REFERENCES

Fernandez de Puelles, M.L., Pinot, J. M., and Valencia, J. 2003. Seasonal and interannual variability of zooplankton community in waters off Mallorca island: 1994-1999. Oceanologica Acta, 26: 673-686.


Fernandez de Puelles, M.L., Valencia, J., and Vicente, L. 2004. Zooplankton variability and climatic anomalies from 1994 to 2001 in the Balearic Sea (Western Mediterranean). ICES J. Marine Science, 61: 492-500.


Fernandez de Puelles, M. L., and Molinero, J.C. 2007. North Atlantic climate control on plankton variability in the Balearic Sea (Western Mediterranean), Geophys. Resh. Letters 34, L04608, doi:10.1029/2006 GL028354


Fernandez de Puelles, M.L., Alemany, F. and Jansa J. 2007. Zooplankton time-series in the Balearic Sea (Western Mediterranean): Variability during the decade 1994-2003. Progress in Oceanography, Spec. Issue: Ecological functioning of the Iberian seas: A synthesis of GLOBEC Research in Spain, 74 (2-3): 329-345.


Fernandez de Puelles, M.L. and Molinero J. C. 2008. Decadal changes in hydrographic and ecological time-series in the Balearic Sea (Western Mediterranean) identifying links between climate and zooplankton. ICES J. Mar. Science, 65 (3): 311-318.