Seasonal variations of mesoplankton biomass in the upper layer of the Bering Sea; understanding biomass oscillations in the ocean

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Rudjakov, J. A., Tseitlin, V. B., Kitain, V. J.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1995
• Subjects: Articles; Bering Sea; Pacific
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/52/3-4/747; https://doi.org/10.1016/1054-3139(95)80087-5

Data on the mesoplankton biomass in the upper layer (down to 100 m) of the western part of the Bering Sea and the adjacent regions of the north-west Pacific were fitted to a periodic regression. The biomass values (wet weight) change from 74 mg m−3 in winter to 770 mg m−3 in summer, the annual average value being 240 mg m−3. These changes closely agree with the seasonal biomass oscillations in the north-east Pacific at Weather Station “P” (50°N, 145°W), which were determined on the basis of long-term observations. These results were used to analyse data derived mainly from published literature to produce equations that describe the pattern of seasonal zooplankton biomass oscillations in the World Ocean. The result confirms the intuitive ideas of planktonologists: phases of these oscillations are approximately opposite in the two hemispheres, and the phase shift from the Poles to the Equator reaches about two months in the Northern Hemisphere and at least three months in the Southern Hemisphere.