Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures
In the marine environment, dynamic physical processes shape biological productivity and predator–prey interactions across multiple scales. Identifying pathways of physical–biological coupling is fundamental to understand the functioning of marine ecosystems yet it is challenging because the interact...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 2024-06-02T08:04:01+00:00 Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures Fahlbusch, James A. Cade, David E. Hazen, Elliott L. Elliott, Meredith L. Saenz, Benjamin T. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Jahncke, Jaime 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 en eng The Royal Society http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 291, issue 2017 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2024 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 2024-05-07T14:16:07Z In the marine environment, dynamic physical processes shape biological productivity and predator–prey interactions across multiple scales. Identifying pathways of physical–biological coupling is fundamental to understand the functioning of marine ecosystems yet it is challenging because the interactions are difficult to measure. We examined submesoscale (less than 100 km) surface current features using remote sensing techniques alongside ship-based surveys of krill and baleen whale distributions in the California Current System. We found that aggregative surface current features, represented by Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) integrated over temporal scales between 2 and 10 days, were associated with increased (a) krill density (up to 2.6 times more dense), (b) baleen whale presence (up to 8.3 times more likely) and (c) subsurface seawater density (at depths up to 10 m). The link between physical oceanography, krill density and krill–predator distributions suggests that LCS are important features that drive the flux of energy and nutrients across trophic levels. Our results may help inform dynamic management strategies aimed at reducing large whales ship strikes and help assess the potential impacts of environmental change on this critical ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whale The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 291 2017 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
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English |
description |
In the marine environment, dynamic physical processes shape biological productivity and predator–prey interactions across multiple scales. Identifying pathways of physical–biological coupling is fundamental to understand the functioning of marine ecosystems yet it is challenging because the interactions are difficult to measure. We examined submesoscale (less than 100 km) surface current features using remote sensing techniques alongside ship-based surveys of krill and baleen whale distributions in the California Current System. We found that aggregative surface current features, represented by Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) integrated over temporal scales between 2 and 10 days, were associated with increased (a) krill density (up to 2.6 times more dense), (b) baleen whale presence (up to 8.3 times more likely) and (c) subsurface seawater density (at depths up to 10 m). The link between physical oceanography, krill density and krill–predator distributions suggests that LCS are important features that drive the flux of energy and nutrients across trophic levels. Our results may help inform dynamic management strategies aimed at reducing large whales ship strikes and help assess the potential impacts of environmental change on this critical ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fahlbusch, James A. Cade, David E. Hazen, Elliott L. Elliott, Meredith L. Saenz, Benjamin T. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Jahncke, Jaime |
spellingShingle |
Fahlbusch, James A. Cade, David E. Hazen, Elliott L. Elliott, Meredith L. Saenz, Benjamin T. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Jahncke, Jaime Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
author_facet |
Fahlbusch, James A. Cade, David E. Hazen, Elliott L. Elliott, Meredith L. Saenz, Benjamin T. Goldbogen, Jeremy A. Jahncke, Jaime |
author_sort |
Fahlbusch, James A. |
title |
Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
title_short |
Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
title_full |
Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
title_fullStr |
Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
title_full_unstemmed |
Submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative Lagrangian coherent structures |
title_sort |
submesoscale coupling of krill and whales revealed by aggregative lagrangian coherent structures |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 |
genre |
baleen whale |
genre_facet |
baleen whale |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 291, issue 2017 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2461 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
291 |
container_issue |
2017 |
_version_ |
1800748629132050432 |