primary production. It also contributes to the link between benthic and
pelagic organisms.
Arcachon bay is a macrotidal triangular embayment of 155 km
2 located
on the south-western Adantic coast of France. Previous studies were devoted to both zooplankton and meroplankton of the three characteristic water masses of this bay, namely external, intermediate and inner water masses (Castel & Courties, 1982; d’Elbée & Castel, 1991, 1995). The
present study is devoted to zooplankton communities of the innermost
part of the bay, classically called intermediate neritic waters and inner
neritic waters (Bouchet, 1968). Sampling was carried out during summer
in order to monitor the evolution of zooplankton communities during a
period when (i) freshwater inputs are strongly reduced, (ii) oyster breeding
occurs (iii) small phytoplankton cells are dominating. The main objective
of this study is to find out whether and how zooplanktonic communities
change during oyster breeding and what part the environmental factors
play in these changes.
Figure 1 - Arcachon bay: sampling sites.
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