Publications by authors named "Laura Helenius"

Article Synopsis
  • - Copepod size and energy content are affected by temperature and food availability, which is important for planktivorous consumers like the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
  • - Analysis of historical data (1990-2020) showed that copepod size and lipid content vary across five regions of the Northwest Atlantic, with larger, more energy-rich copepods found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence Estuary compared to the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf.
  • - These regional differences in copepod size and energy can influence the foraging success and habitat suitability for North Atlantic right whales, highlighting the importance of understanding prey energy content for their conservation.
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Article Synopsis
  • Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are essential fatty acids vital for marine life, and rising ocean temperatures affect their transfer through the food chain.
  • A study using laboratory-reared copepodites evaluated how different temperatures (6°C, 12°C, and increased stress) and types of prey (dinoflagellates vs. diatoms) influenced EFA incorporation and growth efficiency.
  • Results indicated that warmer temperatures generally enhance EPA and DHA ingestion in copepodites, though diatoms affected DHA differently; copepodites can synthesize EPA even when dietary levels are low, suggesting resilience in marine food webs under changing conditions.
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Laboratory feeding experiments were conducted to study the functional response and prey size spectrum of the young naupliar stages of the calanoid copepod Paracartia grani Sars. Experiments were conducted on a range of microalgal prey of varying sizes and motility patterns. Significant feeding was found in all prey of a size range of 4.

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Planktivorous fish can exert strong top-down control on zooplankton communities. By incorporating different feeding strategies, from selective particulate feeding to cruising filter feeding, fish species target distinct prey. In this study, we investigated the effects of two species with different feeding strategies, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.

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