Spatial and Temporal Operation of the Scotia Sea Ecosystem

Murphy, E. J.; Watkins, J.L.; Trathan, P.N.; Reid, K.; Meredith, M.P.; Hill, S.L.; Thorpe, S.E.; Johnston, N.M.; Clarke, A.; Tarling, G.A.; Collins, M.A.; Forcada, J.; Atkinson, A.; Ward, P.; Staniland, I.J.; Pond, D.W.; Cavanagh, R.A.; Shreeve, R.S.; Korb, R.E.; Whitehouse, M.J.; Rodhouse, P.G.; Enderlein, P.; Hirst, A.G.; Martin, A.R.; Briggs, D.R.; Cunningham, N.J.; Fleming, A.H.

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Abstract

Analysis of the operation of ocean ecosystems requires
an understanding of how the structure of the ecosystem
is determined by interactions between physical,
chemical and biological processes. Such analysis needs
to consider the interactions across a wide range of
spatial (approx. 10 m–10,000 km) and temporal (minutes
to centuries) scales and trophic levels (primary
producers to top predators) (Angel, 1994; Murphy
et al., 1988;Werner et al., 2003). There are, however,
few areas of the global ocean where there is sufficient
knowledge to achieve such an integrated analysis
(deYoung et al., 2004). Circulation patterns of the
major ocean gyres, such as the North Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, involve movement of water masses
through very different climatic regimes which favour
distinctly different groups of organisms (Longhurst,
1998). Generating comprehensive views of the
operation of oceanic ecosystems is complicated as a
result of such heterogeneity in species distribution and
ecosystem structure (Levin, 1990; Longhurst, 1998;
Murphy et al., 1988).
In contrast to other