Spatiotemporal distribution of copepod populations in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic Sea)

In the present study, we used a 3D Coupled Ecosystem Model of Baltic Sea version 1 (3D CEMBSv1) coupled with a copepod model to examine the spatiotemporal distribution of two representative copepod populations in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic Sea) including Acartia spp. and Pseudocalanus minutus elongatus. The annual cycles simulated for 2000 under realistic weather and hydrographic conditions were studied with the three-dimensional version of the coupled ecosystem-copepod model in the south-eastern Baltic Sea. The paper presents the comparison of simulated and observed copepod development at two stations in the Gulf of Gdansk. A validation of influential state variables gives confidence that the model is able to calculate reliably the stage development of dominant species in the southern Baltic Sea. The number of generations was one for P. m. elongatus and 3–5 for Acartia spp.. A mean of five generations for the latter species per year were estimated in the coastal region and ca. three generations at the Gdansk Deep (in the open sea). Food concentration and temperature as the main factors controlling the development of the investigated copepods as well as salinity as a masking factor (i.e. salinity modifies the rate of their development) in the case of Pseudocalanus minutus elongatus are included in the present study.