Identifying biotic drivers of population dynamics in a benthic-pelagic community.

Benthic species and communities are linked to pelagic zooplankton through life-stages encompassing both benthic and pelagic habitats and through a mutual dependency on primary producers as a food source. Many zooplankton taxa contribute to the sedimentary system as benthic eggs. Our main aim was to investigate the nature of the population level biotic interactions between and within these two seemingly independent communities, both dependent on the pelagic primary production, while simultaneously accounting for environmental drivers (salinity, temperature, and oxygen conditions).

Future temperature and salinity do not exert selection pressure on cyst germination of a toxic phytoplankton species.

Unlabelled: Environmental conditions regulate the germination of phytoplankton resting stages. While some factors lead to synchronous germination, others stimulate germination of only a small fraction of the resting stages. This suggests that habitat filters may act on the germination level and thus affect selection of blooming strains.