Marine zooplankton are among the most diverse and abundant organisms on earth. Despite a great wealth of knowledge and research on their ecology, the processes promoting coexistence and maintaining their high diversity worldwide are poorly known. In order to understand the processes underpinning coexistence among marine zooplankton, we investigated the existence and degree of niche separation within two pairs of taxonomically and ecologically related species of copepods belonging to the widespread, abundant genera Calanus and Oithona. We compared the spatial variation in species abundances to the abiotic and biotic environment using a multimodel approach and vertically resolved survey data on zooplankton composition, abundances, and environmental conditions in the North Sea. Our results demonstrate pronounced spatial differences between species in each pair, primarily in their vertical abundance distributions. These differences can largely be explained by different preferences for temperature and salinity. This supports the occurrence of environmental niche separation in marine zooplankton and highlights its role as a mechanism reducing interspecific competition and promoting coexistence.

中文翻译：

---

生态位分离促进了生态相似的浮游动物之间的共存-以北海Sea足类为例

海洋浮游动物是地球上最丰富多样的生物之一。尽管在生态学方面有丰富的知识和研究，但在世界范围内促进共存和保持其高度多样性的过程知之甚少。为了了解海洋浮游动物共存的过程，我们调查了两类与pe足类在分类学和生态学相关的物种中的生态位分离的存在和程度，这些物种属于广泛，丰富的Calanus和Oithona。我们使用多模型方法并垂直解析了北海浮游动物组成，丰度和环境条件的调查数据，比较了物种丰富度与非生物和生物环境的空间变化。我们的结果表明，每对物种之间的空间差异明显，主要是在其垂直丰度分布方面。这些差异很大程度上可以通过对温度和盐度的不同偏好来解释。这支持了海洋浮游动物中环境生态位分离的发生，并突显了其作为减少种间竞争和促进共存的机制的作用。