https://www.oceanexpert.org/expert/Marcu

B. A. Goucher CollegePh.D. Biology, Yale University

Institutional Management

Biological Oceanography
Marine Ecology

Dormancy is an important phase in the life cycle of many species because it synchronizes active periods of the life cycle with favorable conditions in the environment and enables survival during periods of adversity. My research has primarily focused on the phenomenon of dormancy in marine copepods. For more than 20 years I have examined the factors that are important in the induction, maintenance, and termination of dormancy. These studies have mostly considered the egg dormancy of calanoid copepods, but we have also conducted some investigations of the CV dormancy exemplified by Calanus. We have shown that photoperiod and temperature are the primary factors affecting the induction of diapause egg production and that accumulations of dormant eggs in the sea bed of coastal waters provide a seed bank for recruitment of nauplii into the plankton. In some cases these eggs can survive for many years in the sea bed. In recent years we have also turned our attention to evaluating the impact of reduced oxygen concentrations on the population dynamics of copepods.

Global

English