UC San Diego

We examine long-term (1951-2008) variability of three major taxa of calcareous holozooplankton (aragonitesecreting thecosome pteropods and heteropods, and calcitesecreting large planktonic foraminifera) in light of recent interest in the impingement of waters undersarurated with respect to aragonite onto continental shelf depths in the California Current System. We assess interannual variability in springtime abundances of zooplankton sampled in the epipelagic layer, using CalCOFI (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) zooplankton samples from two regions: Southern California (SC) and Central California (CC). Thecosome pteropods show no evidence of recent declines in abundance in SC or CC waters. In SC, sampling was sufficient to conclude that heteropods and large foraminifera also show no evidence of declines in abundance in recent years. These results do not preclude asyet undetected changes in vertical distributions or shell morphology, and underscore the importance of sustained in situ measurement programs in order to detect and understand changes to pelagic ecosystems. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.