Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities
Continuous plankton recorders (CPRs) have been used in the Northwest Atlantic for almost 50 years. While data collected by these surveys have provided valuable information on long-term variability in plankton populations, all previous analyses have been limited to only a portion of the geographic ra...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:plankt:fbq058v1 2023-05-15T15:48:01+02:00 Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities Pershing, Andrew J. Head, Erica H. J. Greene, Charles H. Jossi, Jack W. 2010-05-24 00:35:27.0 text/html http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbq058v1 https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 en eng Oxford University Press http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbq058v1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 Copyright (C) 2010, Oxford University Press Article TEXT 2010 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 2016-11-16T18:35:49Z Continuous plankton recorders (CPRs) have been used in the Northwest Atlantic for almost 50 years. While data collected by these surveys have provided valuable information on long-term variability in plankton populations, all previous analyses have been limited to only a portion of the geographic range of the available data. Here we present an analysis of the CPR data from the Mid Atlantic Bight to the Labrador Sea. Across this wide geographic range, we found many common associations among the taxa. In particular, the changes in most regions were strongly size structured, with small and medium copepods varying together and often positively related to indicators of phytoplankton abundance. The time series from nearby regions were strongly correlated; however, after 1990, the spatial pattern became more complex. During this period, several of the copepod taxa, noticeably Calanus finmarchicus and Centropages typicus , experienced a series of anomalies that appeared to propagate from northeast to southwest. Although the direction of propagation was consistent with the shelf circulation, the anomalies propagated at a rate much slower than typical current speeds. The timing of the copepod anomalies and their phase speed were similar in character to observed changes in salinity and the position of the Shelf Slope Front. The correspondence between the changes in the plankton community and changes in the physical environmental suggests that physical conditions are a strong driver of interannual variability in Northwest Atlantic Shelf ecosystems. Text Calanus finmarchicus Labrador Sea Northwest Atlantic Copepods HighWire Press (Stanford University) Journal of Plankton Research 32 12 1661 1674 |
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Article Pershing, Andrew J. Head, Erica H. J. Greene, Charles H. Jossi, Jack W. Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
topic_facet |
Article |
description |
Continuous plankton recorders (CPRs) have been used in the Northwest Atlantic for almost 50 years. While data collected by these surveys have provided valuable information on long-term variability in plankton populations, all previous analyses have been limited to only a portion of the geographic range of the available data. Here we present an analysis of the CPR data from the Mid Atlantic Bight to the Labrador Sea. Across this wide geographic range, we found many common associations among the taxa. In particular, the changes in most regions were strongly size structured, with small and medium copepods varying together and often positively related to indicators of phytoplankton abundance. The time series from nearby regions were strongly correlated; however, after 1990, the spatial pattern became more complex. During this period, several of the copepod taxa, noticeably Calanus finmarchicus and Centropages typicus , experienced a series of anomalies that appeared to propagate from northeast to southwest. Although the direction of propagation was consistent with the shelf circulation, the anomalies propagated at a rate much slower than typical current speeds. The timing of the copepod anomalies and their phase speed were similar in character to observed changes in salinity and the position of the Shelf Slope Front. The correspondence between the changes in the plankton community and changes in the physical environmental suggests that physical conditions are a strong driver of interannual variability in Northwest Atlantic Shelf ecosystems. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pershing, Andrew J. Head, Erica H. J. Greene, Charles H. Jossi, Jack W. |
author_facet |
Pershing, Andrew J. Head, Erica H. J. Greene, Charles H. Jossi, Jack W. |
author_sort |
Pershing, Andrew J. |
title |
Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
title_short |
Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
title_full |
Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
title_fullStr |
Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pattern and scale of variability among Northwest Atlantic Shelf plankton communities |
title_sort |
pattern and scale of variability among northwest atlantic shelf plankton communities |
publisher |
Oxford University Press |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbq058v1 https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 |
genre |
Calanus finmarchicus Labrador Sea Northwest Atlantic Copepods |
genre_facet |
Calanus finmarchicus Labrador Sea Northwest Atlantic Copepods |
op_relation |
http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbq058v1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2010, Oxford University Press |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbq058 |
container_title |
Journal of Plankton Research |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1661 |
op_container_end_page |
1674 |
_version_ |
1766383020125716480 |