To improve our understanding of the mean state, seasonal cycle, and natural interannual to decadal variability of global and basin-scale biogeographical patterns. Why do different ecosystems reside ...where they do? What combination of forcing and biological responses drives the observed long-term variability and apparent ecosystem regime shifts? The intrinsic scales of ocean ecology are set by the growth and removal of phytoplankton, with time-constants of one to a few days. Our project scope, therefore, encompasses the range of coupled dynamics of ocean ecology, biogeochemistry, and physics on scales from sub-diurnal to multi-decadal and submesoscale to global. The project is divided into four major scientific themes, with associated fundamental questions: 1) Biogeochemical cycles. What factors govern phytoplankton biomass, productivity and export, the net remineralization of organic matter below the euphotic zone, and the spatial (e.g., biogeographical regimes) and temporal (e.g., climate regime shifts) variations in these global processes? 2) Community structure. What processes govern plankton community structure and function and how do physical-chemical-biological interactions influence biogeochemical processes in the ocean system? 3) Scales of physical forcing. How do mesoscale and sub-mesoscale physical variability impact ecosystem fluxes and community structure? 4) Advanced interdisciplinary models. How do we best merge observations and models?
Prepared in cooperation with Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, University of Miami, Miami, FL, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Gloucester Point, VA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM.
Our primary scientific objective is to improve our understanding of the mean state, seasonal cycle, and natural interannual to decadal variability of global and basin-scale biogeographical patterns. ...Why do different ecosystems reside where they do? What combination of forcing and biological responses drives the observed long-term variability and apparent ecosystem regime shifts? The intrinsic scales of ocean ecology are set by the growth and removal of phytoplankton, with time-constants of one to a few days. Our project scope, therefore, encompasses the range of coupled dynamics of ocean ecology, biogeochemistry, and physics on scales from sub-diurnal to multi-decadal and submesoscale to global.
A National Oceanographic Partnership Program Award.
