Plankton community respiration (CR) in aquatic ecosystems, which is critical for carbon cycling, can be affected by environmental changes. In the Western North Pacific, it is projected that there will be more frequent intense tropical cyclones (TCs) in the near future. However, the effects of TCs on the plankton CR are not well understood. To address this, we investigated changes in plankton CR levels in the Fei-Tsui Reservoir from January 2010 to December 2015 during TC and non-TC periods. During TC periods, the plankton CR increased due to optimal euphotic depth-averaged temperature (23-27°C) and increased supply of limiting nutrient resources via stream runoff. Our study demonstrated that TCs would have a positive effect on the plankton CR.

Dr. Erica Silk P. dela Paz is currently teaching in the Biology Department at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fisheries Science at National Taiwan University in 2023. She specialized in freshwater community ecology and won the Dean Award 2023 for her outstanding research. She has authored numerous papers in peer-reviewed and Scopus-indexed journals. She also received the Tonolli Victor Fund Grant for Postgraduate Fellowship in Limnology in 2015 awarded by the International Society of Limnology (SIL). Her other research interests are aquatic food web dynamics, climate change, limnology, big data & long-term data analysis, nature-based solutions, ecosystem dynamics, ecology & conservation, and zooplankton systematics