A simplified version of a food web in the Gulf of Naples in eutrophic (Green) and oligotrophic (Blue) summer conditions, modified from D’Alelio et al. (2016a). Briefly, in the Green system state, both copepods and microzooplankton exert a strong grazing pressure on phytoplankton, while in the Blue state, copepods increase their predation over microzooplankton, which in turn shifts its predation from phytoplankton to bacterial plankton or picoplankton. These trophic mechanisms stabilize the delivery of organic matter from copepods to fish.

 
 
  Part of: Zingone A, D’Alelio D, Mazzocchi MG, Montresor M, Sarno D, LTER-MC team (2019) Time series and beyond: multifaceted plankton research at a marine Mediterranean LTER site. In: Mazzocchi MG, Capotondi L, Freppaz M, Lugliè A, Campanaro A (Eds) Italian Long-Term Ecological Research for understanding ecosystem diversity and functioning. Case studies from aquatic, terrestrial and transitional domains. Nature Conservation 34: 273-310. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.34.30789