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MEPS 215:283-287 (2001)
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Abstract
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Pulses in the eastern margin current and warmer water off the north west European shelf linked to North Sea ecosystem changes
Philip C. Reid1,*, N. Penny Holliday2, Tim J. Smyth3
1Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, 1 Walker Terrace, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3BN, United Kingdom
2Southampton Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
3Remote Sensing Group, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth PL1 3DH, United Kingdom
*E-mail: pcre@wpo.nerc.ac.uk
ABSTRACT: The North Sea ecosystem has recently undergone dramatic changes, observed as altered biomass of individual species spanning a range of life forms from algae to birds, with evidence for an approximate doubling in the abundance of both
phytoplankton and benthos as part of a regime shift after 1987. Remarkably, these changes, in part recorded in the Phytoplankton Colour Index of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, are notable as episodic shifts occurring in 1988/89 and 1998
imposed on a gradual decadal trend. These biological events are shown to be a response to coincident changes in oceanic input and water temperature. Geostrophic transports have been calculated from a hydrographic section across the Rockall Trough, and a
time series of sea-surface temperature derived from satellite observations. The 2 pulses of oceanic incursion into the North Sea in circa 1988 and 1998 coincided with strong northward advection of anomalously warm water at the edge of the continental
shelf.
KEY WORDS: North Sea · Regime shift · Plankton · Long-term changes · Shelf edge current · Remote sensing · SST · NAO
Full text in pdf format
Published in MEPS Vol.
215
(2001) on May 31
Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2001
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