A line in the sea

Yoder, James A.; Ackleson, Steven G.; Barber, Richard T.; Flament, Pierre; Balch, William M.

doi:10.1038/371689a0

Cited by 314 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…For example, oceanic fronts between distinct water masses in HNLC regions are commonly associated with high species diversity and productivity (4,39,40). Physiologically and genetically diverse groups of organisms confer the ability to adapt to abrupt changes in environmental conditions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling a phytoplankton hotspot at a narrow boundary between coastal and offshore waters

Ribalet

Marchetti

Hubbard

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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In terrestrial ecosystems, transitional areas between different plant communities (ecotones) are formed by steep environmental gradients and are commonly characterized by high species diversity and primary productivity, which in turn influences the foodweb structure of these regions. Whether comparable zones of elevated diversity and productivity characterize ecotones in the oceans remains poorly understood. Here we describe a previously hidden hotspot of phytoplankton diversity and productivity in a narrow but seasonally persistent transition zone at the intersection of iron-poor, nitrate-rich offshore waters and iron-rich, nitrate-poor coastal waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Novel continuous measurements of phytoplankton cell abundance and composition identified a complex succession of blooms of five distinct size classes of phytoplankton populations within a 100-km-wide transition zone. The blooms appear to be fueled by natural iron enrichment of offshore communities as they are transported toward the coast. The observed succession of phytoplankton populations is likely driven by spatial gradients in iron availability or time since iron enrichment. Regardless of the underlying mechanism, the resulting communities have a strong impact on the regional biogeochemistry as evidenced by the low partial pressure of CO 2 and the nearly complete depletion of nutrients. Enhanced phytoplankton productivity and diversity associated with steep environmental gradients are expected wherever water masses with complementary nutrient compositions mix to create a region more favorable for phytoplankton growth. The ability to detect and track these important but poorly characterized marine ecotones is critical for understanding their impact on productivity and ecosystem structure in the oceans.ecotone | transition zone | iron | high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll | flow cytometry

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling a phytoplankton hotspot at a narrow boundary between coastal and offshore waters

Ribalet

Marchetti

Hubbard

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In the Pacific Ocean, young loggerhead turtles preferentially migrate between the subarctic and the subtropical gyres, in a zone spanned by a series of fronts (Polovina et al, 2000). Primary production in the western tropical Indian Ocean is generally low (Humbert-Droz and Jullien, 1983), but food for marine animals accumulates along thermal fronts, convergence and divergence areas (Yoder et al, 1994). These zones also concentrate various floating objects, algae (Carr, 1987) and debris (Nichols et al, 2000), which provide shelter for marine animals.…”

Section: Captive-reared Turtlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oceanic survival and movements of wild and captive-reared immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian Ocean

Pelletier

Roos

Ciccione

2003

Aquatic Living Resources

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The ability of captive-reared turtles to survive in the wild is not precisely known, nor are movements of immature turtles in the open ocean. To provide information on these issues, a satellite tracking experiment was conducted in the western Indian Ocean to monitor oceanic movements of immature green turtles. Two wild turtles and four captive-reared individuals were tracked. The latter had been displaced after birth from nesting sites to a distant rearing site. Wild turtles survived after release, but did not move far away from release site. We hypothesize that this resident behaviour may be explained by stage-specific habitat requirements. Captive-reared turtles survived after release and migrated over thousands of kilometres. Among these, the oldest immature turtles retrieved the foraging sites of their native population, with movement patterns similar to those displayed by adults. Observed movements may be linked to hydrographic conditions such as general oceanic circulation, sea temperature and thermal fronts.

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“…Thousand kilometer zonal scale propagating waves with typical periods of tens of days have been observed in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, affecting the physical and biogeochemical properties of the ocean and its interaction with the atmosphere [e.g., Legeckis, 1977;Legeckis and Reverdin, 1983;McPhaden et al, 1984;Hayes et al, 1989;Luther and Johnson, 1990;Yoder et al, 1994;Qiao and Weisberg, 1995;McPhaden, 1996;Xie et al, 1998;Chelton et al, 2000;Liu et al, 2000;Polito et al, 2001;Lee et al, 2012]. These tropical instability waves (TIWs) are generated from barotropic and baroclinic instabilities associated with the horizontal and vertical shear of equatorial current systems and related density gradients [e.g., Philander, 1978;Weisberg and Weingartner, 1988;McCreary and Yu, 1992;Masina et al, 1999;Grodsky et al, 2005;Jochum et al, 2004;Lyman et al, 2007;von Schuckmann et al, 2008].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of salinity on tropical Atlantic instability waves

et al. 2014

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Sea surface salinity (SSS) data derived from the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite mission are analyzed along with other satellite and in situ data to assess Aquarius' capability to detect tropical instability waves (TIWs) and eddies in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and to investigate the influence that SSS has on the variability. Aquarius data show that the magnitude of SSS anomalies associated with the Atlantic TIWs is 60.25 practical salinity unit, which is weaker than those in the Pacific by 50%. In the central equatorial Atlantic, SSS contribution to the mean meridional density gradient is similar to sea surface temperature (SST) contribution. Consequently, SSS is important to TIW-related surface density anomalies and perturbation potential energy (PPE). In this region, SSS influences surface PPE significantly through the direct effect and the indirect effect associated with SSS-SST covariability. Ignoring SSS effects would underestimate TIW-related PPE by approximately three times in the surface layer. SSS also regulates the seasonality of the TIWs. The borealspring peak of the PPE due to SSS leads that due to SST by about one month. Therefore, SSS not only affects the spatial structure, but the seasonal variability of the TIWs in the equatorial Atlantic. In the northeast Atlantic near the Amazon outflow and the North Brazil Current retroflection region and in the southeast Atlantic near the Congo River outflow, SSS accounts for 80-90% of the contribution to mean meridional density gradient. Not accounting for SSS effect would underestimate surface PPE in these regions by a factor of 10 and 4, respectively.

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A line in the sea

Cited by 314 publications

References 12 publications

Unveiling a phytoplankton hotspot at a narrow boundary between coastal and offshore waters

Unveiling a phytoplankton hotspot at a narrow boundary between coastal and offshore waters

Oceanic survival and movements of wild and captive-reared immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Indian Ocean

The influence of salinity on tropical Atlantic instability waves

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