– Recent advances in the Mediterranean researches on zooplankton: from spatial – temporal patterns of distribution to processes oriented studies.

In this review we focus on research performed by Italian scientists on pelagiccommunities, from microzooplankton to micronekton, mainly in the Italian Seas.We considered published data, mostly as grey literature, and unpublished ones.Firstly we describe data collected over a time span of more than 30 years, duringseveral cruises all around the Italian peninsula on zooplankton composition anddistribution. We identified rare vs. common species, which enhanced biodiversityof the pelagic ecosystem. Time series, some also very long, allowed us to describeseasonal recurrent patterns, interannual fluctuations and recent shifts driven byclimatic changes. More recently Italian researches were processes oriented and weanalyzed results obtained on the impact of predation of both micro- andmesozooplankton on both autotrophic and heterotrophic preys. Carbon fluxesthrough zooplankton components were variable in space and time, but accountedfor important phytoplankton losses, and when this resource became scarce theyrelied on heterotrophic production. Through respiration measurements ofmesozooplankton another aspect of the C flux was estimated showing anincrease in C demand in the most oligotrophic area. Egg production by copepodsappeared to be mostly controlled by temperature and quantity/quality ofavailable food.