Decadal changes in hydrographic and ecological time-series in the Balearic Sea (western Mediterranean), identifying links between climate and zooplankton

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Fernández de Puelles, Maria Luz, Molinero, Juan Carlos
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2008
• Subjects: Ecology; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Molinero; North Atlantic; Copepods
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsn017; http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/65/3/311/29130267/fsn017.pdf

Abstract Fernández de Puelles, M. L., and Molinero, J. C. 2008. Decadal changes in hydrographic and ecological time-series in the Balearic Sea (western Mediterranean), identifying links between climate and zooplankton. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 311–317. We investigated possible relationships between climate, hydrography, and zooplankton abundance in the Balearic Sea (BS), during a 10-year survey period spanning January 1994 to December 2003. It was demonstrated that large-scale atmospheric variability in the North Atlantic (NA) Ocean acts as a driver of regional meteorological variations and hydrographic patterns in the BS. The results also revealed that the variability of copepods, appendicularians, cladocerans, siphonophores, doliolids, and ostracods is closely related to variations in water temperature recorded during strong anomalies of the NA climate (>1 s.d.). Although the time-series that we analysed cover a period that is relatively short for investigating climate effects on marine ecosystems, the statistical results reported were consistent enough to emphasize the NA’s climate effect on the BS. The cascade of links identified by these results should be considered and integrated into the assessment and modelling studies of pelagic ecosystem and biogeochemical fluxes in the western Mediterranean Sea.