Ecological Geography of the Sea (eBook)

Front cover 1
Title page 4
Copyright page 5
Table of contents 8
Preface 12
Acknowledgements 16
1 Toward an Ecological Geography of the Sea 18
The Progressive Exploration of Oceanic and Shelf Ecosystems 19
The Availability of Timely Global Oceanographic Data from Satellites 22
Internal Dynamics of Satellite-Observed Algal Blooms 28
Our New Understanding of the Role of Very Small Organisms 31
2 Biogeographic Partition of the Ocean 36
Taxonomic Diversity: The Shifting Baseline of Biogeography 37
The Useful Results from 150 Years of Marine Biogeography 41
Biogeographic Regions of the Pelagos 42
Geographic Component of Benthic–Pelagic Coupling 45
From Pristine to Modified Ecosystems 48
3 Fronts and Pycnoclines: Ecological Discontinuities 52
Fronts and Frontal Systems 53
Oceanic Fronts and Eddy Streets 53
Shelf-Edge and Upwelling Fronts 56
Tidal Fronts and River Plumes of the Shelf Seas 58
The Ubiquitous “Horizontal Front” at the Shallow Pycnocline 60
4 Physical Control of Ecological Processes 68
Ecological Consequences of Mesoscale Eddies and Planetary Waves 70
Stratification and Irradiance: The Consequences of Latitude 72
Regional and Latitudinal Resistance to Mixing in the Open Oceans 75
Rule-Based Models of Ecological Response to External Forcing 79
Case 1—Polar Irradiance-Mediated Production Peak 81
Case 2—Nutrient-Limited Spring Production Peak 81
Case 3—Winter–Spring Production with Nutrient Limitation 82
Case 4—Small-Amplitude Response to Trade Wind Seasonality 82
Case 5—Large-Amplitude Response to Monsoon-like Reversal of Trade Winds 83
Case 6—Intermittent Production at Coastal Divergences 83
Coastal Asymmetry, Geomorphology, and Tidal Forcing 84
5 Nutrient Limitation: The Example of Iron 88
Nutrient Distribution and the Consequences of Differing Supply Ratios 89
Regional Anomalies in Nutrient Limitation 95
Models of Regional Nutrient Flux and Limitation 100
6 Biomes: The Primary Partition 106
The Four Primary Biomes of the Upper Ocean 107
Polar Biome 111
Westerlies Biome 112
Trades Biome 114
Coastal Biome 116
7 Provinces: The Secondary Compartments 120
Ecological Provinces in the Open Ocean 122
Ways of Testing Static Province Boundaries in the Open Ocean 127
A Statistical Test 127
Analytical Tests 128
Biogeographic Tests 129
Practicable and Useful Partitions in Coastal Seas 130
8 Longer Term Responses: From Seasons to Centuries 132
Scales of External Forcing 133
Recurrent, ENSO-Scale Changes of State 135
Multidecadal Trends and Changes 140
Conclusion: Stable Partitions in a Varying Ocean? 145
9 The Atlantic Ocean 148
Atlantic Polar Biome 149
Boreal Polar Province (BPLR) 149
Atlantic Arctic Province (ARCT) 159
Atlantic Subarctic Province (SARC) 165
Atlantic Westerly Winds Biome 173
North Atlantic Drift Province (NADR) 174
Gulf Stream Province (GFST) 180
North Atlantic Subtropical Gyral Province (NAST-E, NAST-W) 183
Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea Province (MEDI) 190
Atlantic Trade Wind Biome 200
North Atlantic Tropical Gyral Province (NATR) 201
Caribbean Province (CARB) 205
Western Tropical Atlantic Province (WTRA) 210
Eastern Tropical Atlantic Province (ETRA) 218
South Atlantic Gyral Province (SATL) 226
Atlantic Coastal Biome 231
Northeast Atlantic Shelves Province (NECS) 231
Canary Current Coastal Province (CNRY) 241
Guinea Current Coastal Province (GUIN) 250
Benguela Current Coastal Province (BENG) 259
Northwest Atlantic Shelves Province (NWCS) 265
Guianas Coastal Province (GUIA) 274
Brazil Current Coastal Province (BRAZ) 281
Southwest Atlantic Shelves Province (FKLD) 285
10 The Indian Ocean 292
Indian Ocean Trade Wind Biome 295
Indian Monsoon Gyres Province (MONS) 295
Indian South Subtropical Gyre Province (ISSG) 302
Indian Ocean Coastal Biome 307
Red Sea, Arabian Gulf Province (REDS) 307
Northwest Arabian Sea Upwelling Province (ARAB) 312
Western India Coastal Province (INDW) 320
Eastern India Coastal Province (INDE) 326
Eastern Africa Coastal Province (EAFR) 331
Australia-Indonesia Coastal Province (AUSW) 337
11 The Pacific Ocean 344
Pacific Polar Biome 346
North Pacific Epicontinental Sea Province (BERS) 346
Pacific Westerly Winds Biome 354
Pacific Subarctic Gyres Province, East and West (PSAG) 354
Kuroshio Current Province (KURO) 360
North Pacific Subtropical and Polar Front Provinces (NPST and NPPF) 366
Tasman Sea Province (TASM) 371
Pacific Trade Winds Biome 374
North Pacific Tropical Gyre Province (NPTG) 374
North Pacific Equatorial Countercurrent Province (PNEC) 379
Pacific Equatorial Divergence Province (PEQD) 384
Western Pacific Warm Pool Province (WARM) 390
Archipelagic Deep Basins Province (ARCH) 395
South Pacific Subtropical Gyre Province, North and South (SPSG) 402
Pacific Coastal Biome 406
Alaska Coastal Downwelling Province (ALSK) 406
California Current Province (CALC) 413
Central American Coastal Province (CAMR) 421
Humboldt Current Coastal Province (HUMB) 426
China Sea Coastal Province (CHIN) 434
Sunda-Arafura Shelves Province (SUND) 440
East Australian Coastal Province (AUSE) 446
New Zealand Coastal Province (NEWZ) 452
12 The Southern Ocean 460
Antarctic Westerly Winds Biome 465
South Subtropical Convergence Province (SSTC) 465
Subantarctic Water Ring Province (SANT) 471
Antarctic Polar Biome 480
Antarctic Province (ANTA) 480
Austral Polar Province (APLR) 485
References 494
Index 544
Color Plates 560