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Dr. Bertha E. Lavaniegos-Espejo


BELE


Education:
Biology    1988

Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM)
Master    1987 Marine Ecology Program, Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico (CICESE)
Ph D.       1993 Marine Ecology Program, CICESE

Professional Experience:
1997-present

Researcher, CICESE
1996-present

Zooplankton Biologist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
1993-1995

Associate Researcher, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
1988-1989

Biology Professor, Escuela Superior de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico
1978-1981

Professor Assistant, Facultad de Ciencias (UNAM)

Research Interest:     Zooplankton Ecology, Biological Oceanography

 



PRESENT PROJECTS

STUDY AREAS
Study areas involved in the projects. Long-term changes (1951-2005) in zooplankton structure are investigated in CalCOFI areas of central and southern California. In IMECOCAL areas (north and central Baja California), we are developing quarterly time-series of zooplankton biomass and abundance since September 1997.
 
 
§ Retrospective Analysis of the zooplankton structure in the California Current

 This project consists in the retrospective analysis of the macrozooplankton based in the pelagic invertebrates collection produced by the CalCOFI (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) program. The spatial coverage and sampling frequency has changed trough the history of CalCOFI from 1949 to the present. In the first days of the program, the route of USA vessels was from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas (38°-23°N). From the end of 1960s, the geographic coverage suffered successive contractions until the present sampling area between Point Conception and San Diego (35°-32°N).
SALPS

 Is in this area, better covered through the time, where we are studying long-term changes in the zooplankton composition. The principal investigator of the project is Dr. Mark Ohman, curator of the pelagic invertebrates collection of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which has founding from the National Science Foundation. Long-term changes are interesting, but more necessary by the disturbing decline in zooplankton volumes in the region off southern California since the end of 1970s (Roemmich & McGowan, 1995). That reduction in biomass brings the question about what particular zooplankton groups and/or species have experienced the decrease.


 To respond the question, we selected all the Spring CalCOFI cruises performed during the period 1951-2005. Time series of abundance has been developed for the main zooplankton taxa (copepods, euphausiids, etc.) and some selected species of these taxa. The variability of pelagic tunicates, particularly salps, is the most important to explain the zooplankton biomass decline during the warm climate regime started in the winter of 1976-1977, which could be ending by 1999 to give course to a new cool regime.
Summed biomass, as organic carbon of (a) salp species that were present primarily during the cooler phases of the California Current, and (b) salp species that were present through both cool and warm phases of the California Current. Note that the scale is logarithmic, hence the height of each shaded region is not linearly proportional to that species’ relative biomass. (Lavaniegos & Ohman, 2003)

 Copepods could also contribute to the decrease in biomass during the 1990s. Some authors have identified the winter of 1988-1989 as other point of climate regime change (Hare & Mantua 2000).

 The area of central California is also subject to analysis, though the samples coverage is not so complete as that for southern California waters.

 COPEPODS

Spring biomass of copepods (log mg carbon m-2) in the California Current (left) and anomaly in relation to the long-term mean (right). (unpublished data)







v   Effects in the pelagic ecosystem of the California Current to the climate events of
El Niño 1997-1998 and La Niña 1998-1999
1/3 of the California Current are Mexican waters. This is the less known sector of the California Current system (CCS), but of great interest due the strong latitudinal variation observed as approaches to the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. The information available off Baja California is derived mainly from two important monitoring programs: CALCOFI (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) and IMECOCAL (Investigaciones Mexicanas de la Corriente de California). The first penetrated in the region during its extensive surveys performed between 1949 and 1985. The second from 1997 to the present, has being doing quarterly cruises with the coordinate effort of diverse Mexican institutions. The abundant biologic material collected during the IMECOCAL cruises has permitted document the changes in zooplankton biomass and structure occurred during the 1997-1998 El Niño. This event though not so prolonged as El Niño 1982-1983, was similarly strong. The intense warming was followed rapidly by extremely cold conditions, which today are recognized as one of the strongest La Niñas of the century (Durazo & Baumgartner, 2002).
  The impact of such extreme conditions on the subtropical coastal zone is mainly known by its social dimensions. However, the anomalous climatic influence on the pelagic community of the open ocean is not well known. Therefore, this project attempt to analyze the impact to physical forcing produced by El Niño 1997-1998 and La Niña 1998-1999 on the biomass and community structure of the epipelagic zooplankton in the southern region of the CCS.

For the development of the project, zooplankton samples collected by the IMECOCAL program were used and we had support from CONACYT (grant 017Pñ-1297). The results showed that zooplankton displacement volumes during the warm event were lightly high and during the cold event experienced a decrease. This response is atypical to other temperate zones, because a strong decrease would be expected, followed by a recovery (Lavaniegos et al., 2002).

The observed changes in zooplankton biomass suggest a strong input of tropical species during El Niño in this area of the CCS, as was confirmed by taxonomic analysis of copepods (Jiménez-Pérez & Lavaniegos, 2004), euphausiids (Linacre, 2005), and salps (Hereu et al., submitted). Is it probable that tropical species could survive despite of low food availability? In fact, the phytoplankton was not in low supply in the region (Lavaniegos et al., 2002). It could be possible that phytoplankton type and size were more adequate for tropical copepods, among which there are many species of small size, compared to temperate species.
 BIOMASS
Mean zooplankton biomass (± 95% confidence interval) during the IMECOCAL cruises in two regions off western Baja California peninsula, taken as a reference Punta Baja (30°N). The brown dashed line represents historical monthly mean estimated with data from CalCOFI cruises for the period 1951-1985, which is shown as a base-line to compare with recent data. (Data were log-transformed).

Other important point implicit in this situation is the existence of long-term changes in the pelagic community. It is highly probable that an increase in dominance of tropical species is taking place, due to climate regime shifts and/or global warming. By now, the only evidence we have is that some equatorial species, as the copepods Undinula vulgaris and Subeucalanus subtenuis had a larger northward displacement during the 1997-1998 El Niño (Jiménez-Pérez y Lavaniegos, 2004) than in the 1958-1959 El Niño (Fleminger, 1964, 1967).







v   Seasonal  variation  of  the  hyperiid  amphipods  and  their  relation  with  mesoscale  structures
in  Mexican  waters  of  the  California  Current

With the objective to progress in the characterization of the plankton living in the southern region of the California Current, this project will describe the distribution of the hyperiid amphipods and their seasonal changes. These crustaceans occur frequently in the oceanic waters off Baja California. The intense mesoscale activity observed in the area is receiving increasing attention (Espinosa-Carreón et al., 2004; Soto-Mardones et al., 2004), because could partially explain plankton aggregations. First we will identify the mesoscale structures with maps of geostrophic circulation and satellite images, and then their will be correlated with the population density of the dominant species of hyperiid amphipods. The biologic material will be collected in the IMECOCAL cruises during 2005. The founding for this project is from CONACYT (grant 47044).
 
In previous cruises the counting of zooplankton by functional groups has shown an oceanic pattern of distribution for amphipods, excepting January 1998 when invaded Vizcaino Bay (see Technical Reports). The abundance of total amphipods has presented a strong seasonal variation in the north Baja California region, but attenuated in the central region. Interannual differences has been observed, but there are notorious inconsistencies between both regions.
ANPHIPODS
Mean abundance (± 95% confidence interval) of hyperiid amphipods during the IMECOCAL cruises in the north and central Baja California regions. The gray line represents the quarterly mean for the period 1997-2004. (Data were log-transformed)

We expect to find a high diversity of these organisms in Baja California waters. The diversity will be probably higher to that observed in central and southern California. In these regions the following species have been recorded:

SUBORDER HYPERIIDEA

Central
California

Southern
California

SUBORDER HYPERIIDEA

Central
California

Southern
California

Infraorder Physosomata

 

 

Family Dairellidae

 

 

Family Lanceolidae

 

 

Dairella californica  (Bovallius, 1885)

x

x

Lanceola loveni  Bovallius, 1885

 

x

Family Phronimidae

 

 

Lanceola sayana  Bovallius, 1885

x

x

Phronima atlantica  Guérin-Méneville, 1836

x

x

Scypholanceola aestiva  (Stebbing, 1888)

x

x

Phronima bucephala  Giles, 1887

x

x

Family Proscinidae

 

 

Phronima curvipes  Vosseler, 1901

x

x

Proscina magna  Stephensen y Pirlot, 1931

 

x

Phronima pacifica  Streets, 1877

x

x

Family Scinidae

 

 

Phronima sedentaria  (Forskål, 1775)

x

x

Acanthoscina birsteini  Vinogradov, 1976

 

x

Phronima solitaria  Guérin-Méneville, 1836

x

x

Scina borealis  (G.O. Sars, 1882)

x

x

Phronima stebbingi  Vosseler, 1901

x

x

Scina crassicornis  (Fabricius, 1775)

x

x

Family Phrosinidae

 

 

Scina curvidactyla  Chevreux, 1914

x

x

Anchylomera blossevillei  Milne-Edwards, 1830

 

x

Scina damasi  Pirlot, 1929

x

x

Phrosina semilunata  Risso, 1822

 

x

Scina excisa  Wagler, 1926

x

x

Primno brevidens  Bowman, 1978

x

x

Scina incerta  Chevreux, 1900

 

x

Primno latreillei  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Scina inermes  Chevreux, 1919

x

x

Primno macropa  Guérin-Méneville, 1836

x

x

Scina nana  Wagler, 1926

 

x

Family Lycaeopsidae

 

 

Scina rattrayi  Stebbing, 1895

x

 

Lycaeopsis themistoides  Claus, 1879

 

x

Scina similis  Stebbing, 1895

 

x

Family Pronoidae

 

 

Scina stebbingi  Chevreux, 1919

x

x

Eupronoe armata  Claus, 1879

x

x

Scina tullbergi  (Bovallius, 1885)

x

x

Eupronoe minuta  Claus, 1879

x

x

Scina vosseleri  Tattersall, 1906

 

x

Paralycaea gracilis  Claus, 1880

x

x

Infraorder Physocephalata

 

 

Parapronoe campbelli  Stebbing, 1888

x

 

Family Vibiliidae

 

 

Parapronoe crustulum  Claus, 1879

 

x

Vibilia armata  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Parapronoe parva  Claus, 1879

x

 

Vibilia australis  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Pronoe capito  Guérin-Méneville, 1836

 

x

Vibilia chuni  Behning & Woltereck, 1912

x

x

Family Anapronoidae

 

 

Vibilia cultripes  Vosseler, 1901

x

x

Anapronoe reinhardti  Stephensen, 1925

x

x

Vibilia gibbosa  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Family Lycaeidae

 

 

Vibilia propinqua  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Lycaea lilia  Volkov, 1982

 

x

Vibilia pyripes  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Lycaea pachypoda  (Claus, 1879)

x

x

Vibilia stebbingi  Behning & Woltereck, 1912

x

x

Lycaea pauli  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Vibilia viatrix  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Lycaea pulex  Marion, 1874

x

x

Family Cystisomatidae

 

 

Simorhynchotus antennarius  (Claus, 1871)

x

x

Cystisoma fabricii  Stebbing, 1888

 

x

Family Tryphanidae

 

 

Cystisoma pellucida  (Willemoes-Suhm, 1874)

 

x

Tryphana malmi  Boeck, 1870

x

x

Family Paraphronimidae

 

 

Family Brachyscelidae

 

 

Paraphronima crassipes  Claus, 1879

x

x

Brachyscelus crusculum  Bate, 1861

x

x

Paraphronima gracilis  Claus, 1879

x

x

Brachyscelus globiceps  (Claus, 1879)

 

x

Family Hyperiidae

 

 

Euthamneus rostratus  (Bovallius, 1887)

x

 

Hyperia medusarum  (Müller, 1776)

x

x

Family Oxycephalidae

 

 

Hyperia spinigera  Bovallius, 1889

x

 

Calamorhynchus pellucidus  Streets, 1878

 

x

Hyperietta luzoni  (Stebbing, 1888)

 

x

Cranocephalus scleroticus  (Streets, 1878)

x

 

Hyperietta parviceps  Bowman, 1973

x

x

Oxycephalus clausi  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Hyperietta stebbingi  Bowman, 1973

x

x

Rhabdosoma minor  Fage, 1954

 

x

Hyperietta stephenseni  Bowman, 1973

x

x

Rhabdosoma whitei  Bate, 1862

x

x

Hyperietta vosseleri  (Stebbing, 1904)

x

x

Streetsia challengeri  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Hyperiodes sibaginis  (Stebbing, 1888)

 

x

Streetsia steenstrupi  (Bovallius, 1887)

x

x

Hyperioides longipes  Chevreux, 1900

x

x

Family Platyscelidae

 

 

Hyperoche martinezi  (Müller, 1864)

 

x

Hemityphis tenuimanus  Claus, 1879

 

x

Hyperoche mediterranea  Senna, 1908

x

x

Paratyphis maculatus  Claus, 1879

 

x

Hyperoche medusarum  (Kröyer, 1838)

x

x

Paratyphis promontori  Stebbing, 1888

 

x

Hyperoche picta  Bovallius, 1889

x

 

Platyscelus crustulatus  (Claus, 1879)

 

x

Iulopis mirabilis  Bovallius, 1887

x

x

Platyscelus ovoides  (Risso, 1816)

x

x

Lestigonus schizogeneios  (Stebbing, 1888)

x

x

Platyscelus serratulus  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

Lestrigonus macrophthalmus  (Vosseler, 1901)

 

x

Family Parascelidae

 

 

Lestrigonus shoemakeri  Bowman, 1973

x

x

Parascelus edwardsi  Claus, 1879

x

x

Phronimopsis spinifera  Claus, 1879

x

x

Parascelus typhoides  Claus, 1879

 

x

Themisto pacifica  Stebbing, 1888

x

x

 

 

 







References:
Durazo R. and Baumgartner T.R. 2002. Evolution of oceanographic conditions off Baja California: 1997–1999. Prog. Oceanog. 54(1-4):7–31.
Espinosa-Carreon T.L., Strub P.T., Beier E., Ocampo-Torres F. and Gaxiola-Castro G. 2004. Seasonal and interannual variability of satellite-derived
     chlorophyll pigment, surface height, and temperature off Baja California. J. Geophys. Res. 109(C3):C03039.
Fleminger, A. 1964. Distributional Atlas of calanoid copepods in the California Current region, Part 1. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Inves. Atlas No.2.
Fleminger, A. 1967. Distributional Atlas of calanoid copepods in the California Current region, Part 2. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Inves. Atlas No.7.
Hare S.R. and Mantua N.J. 2000. Empirical evidence for North Pacific regime shifts in 1977 and 1989. Prog. Oceanog. 47:103–145.
Jiménez-Pérez L.C. and Lavaniegos, B.E. 2004. Changes in dominance of copepods off Baja California during the 1997-1999 El Niño and La Niña.
     Mar. Ecol.  Prog. Ser. 277:147-165.
Lavaniegos B.E., Jiménez-Pérez L.C. and Gaxiola-Castro G. 2002. Plankton response to El Niño 1997-1998 and La Niña 1999 in the southern region
     of the  California Current. Prog. Oceanog. 54(1-4):33-57.
Lavaniegos B.E. and Ohman M.D. 2003. Long-term Changes in Pelagic Tunicates in the California Current. Deep Sea Res. II 50:2473-2498.
Linacre L. 2005. Community structure of euphausiids in the southern part of the California Current during October 1997 (El Niño) and October 1999
     (La Niña). Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Inves. Rep. 45:126-135.
 Roemmich D. and McGowan J. 1995. Climate warming and the decline of zooplankton in the California Current. Science 267:1324-1326.

Other publications:

Durazo R., Gaxiola-Castro G., Lavaniegos B.E., Castro-Valdez R., Gómez-Valdés J., and Mascarenhas Jr. A.S. 2005. Oceanographic conditions west
     of the  Baja California coast, 2002–2003: A weak El Niño and subarctic water enhancement. Ciencias Marinas 31(3):537-552.
Lavaniegos B.E., Gaxiola-Castro G., Jiménez-Pérez L.C., González-Esparza M.R., Baumgartner T., and García-Cordova J. 2003. El Niño 1997-98 effects
     in the  pelagic ecosystem of the California Current. Geofísica Internacional 42:483-494.
Ohman M.D. and Lavaniegos B.E. 2002. Comparative zooplancton sampling efficiency of the ring net and bongo net with comments on pooling of
     subsamples. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Rep. 43:162-173.
Lavaniegos B., Durazo R., Gaxiola-Castro G., Baumgartner T., Jiménez-Pérez L.C., García-Cordova J., and González-Esparza M.R. 2001. El Niño y el Mar
     (pp.  181-191). En: Los efectos del fenómeno El Niño en México 1997-1998, Escobar-Briones E., Bonilla M., Badán A., Caballero M. y Winckell A. (eds.),
     Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, México, D.F.
Logerwell E.A. Lavaniegos B., and Smith P.E. 2001. Spatially-explicit bioenergetics of Pacific sardine in the Southern California Bight: are mesoscale eddies
     areas of exceptional prerecruit production? Progress in Oceanography 49(1-4):391-406.
Lavaniegos B.E. and González-Navarro E. 1999. Changes in the copepod cummunity during the 1992-93 ENSO at the San Lorenzo Channel, Gulf of
     California. Ciencias Marinas 25:225-237.
Lavaniegos B.E. and González-Navarro E. 1999. Grupos principales del zooplancton durante El Niño 1992-93 en el Canal de San Lorenzo, Golfo de
     California.  Rev. Biol. Tropical 47(Suplemento 1):129-140.
Lavaniegos B.E. and Ohman M.D. 1999. Hyperiid amphipods as indicators of climate change in the California Current (p. 489-509). In: F.R. Schram and
     von Vaupel-Klein J.C. (eds.) CRUSTACEANS AND THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS. Proceedings of the Fourth International Custacean Congress,
     Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 20-24, 1998, Vol. I. Brill, Leiden, Holland.
López-Cortés D.J., Lavaniegos-Espejo B., García-Pámanes J., and Hernández-Sandoval F. 1999. Composición química del zooplancton de la región central
     del Golfo de California durante el periodo marzo/abril de 1995. Hidrobiológica 9(1):53-62.
Lavaniegos B.E., Gómez-Gutiérrez J., Lara-Lara J.R. and Hernández-Vázquez S. 1998. Long-term changes of zooplankton volumes in the California Current
     System.- The Baja California region. Marine Ecology Progress Series 169:55-64.
Lavaniegos B.E. and López-Cortés D. 1997. Fatty acid composition and community structure of plankton from the San Lorenzo Channel, Gulf of California.
     Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 45:845-854.
Lavaniegos B.E. 1996. Vertical distribution of euphausiid life stages in seas adjacent to Baja California. Fishery Bull. 94:300-312.
Gómez-Gutiérrez J., De Silva-Dávila R,. and Lavaniegos B.E. 1996. Growth production of the euphausiid Nyctiphanes simplex on the coastal shelf off Bahía
     Magdalena, Baja California Sur, México. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 138:309-314.
Lavaniegos B.E. 1995. Production of Nyctiphanes simplex in Vizcaino Bay, western Baja California. J. Crustacean Biology 15(3):444-453.
Lavaniegos B.E. 1994. Dispersion and development patterns in larvae of Nyctiphanes simplex (Euphausiacea) in the upwelling region off Baja California.
     Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 106:207-225.
Lavaniegos B.E. 1992. Growth and larval development of Nyctiphanes simplex in laboratory conditions. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Rep. 33:162-171.
Lavaniegos Espejo B.E. and Lara Lara J.R. 1990. Zooplankton of the Gulf of California after the 1982 1983 El Niño event: Biomass distribution and
     abundance. Pacific Science 44(3):297 310.
Lavaniegos Espejo B.E., Lara Lara J.R., and Brinton E. 1989. Effects of the 1982 83 El Niño event on the euphausiid populations of the Gulf of California.
     Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Rep. 30:73 87.