Climate-Ocean Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Northeast Pacific

The role of climatic variation in regulating marine populations and communities is not well understood. To improve our knowledge, the sign, amplitude, and frequency of climatic and biotic variations should be compared as a necessary first step. It is shown that there have been large interannual and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1998-07, Vol.281 (5374), p.210-217
Main Authors: McGowan, John A., Cayan, Daniel R., Dorman, LeRoy M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biology
Climate
Climate change
Climate models
Climatic changes
Coastal ecology
Community Relations
Environmental aspects
Gulfs
Marine
Marine biology
Marine ecosystems
Marine fishes
Ocean currents
Oceanography
Oceans
Plankton
Review
Zooplankton
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Summary:The role of climatic variation in regulating marine populations and communities is not well understood. To improve our knowledge, the sign, amplitude, and frequency of climatic and biotic variations should be compared as a necessary first step. It is shown that there have been large interannual and interdecadal sea-surface temperature changes off the West Coast of North America during the past 80 years. Interannual anomalies appear and disappear rather suddenly and synchronously along the entire coastline. The frequency of warm events has increased since 1977. Although extensive, serial, biological observations are often incomplete, it is clear that climate-ocean variations have disturbed and changed our coastal ecosystems.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.281.5374.210