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Messié M, Sherlock RE, Huffard CL, Pennington JT, Choy CA, Michisaki RP, Gomes K, Chavez FP, Robison BH, Smith KL. Coastal upwelling drives ecosystem temporal variability from the surface to the abyssal seafloor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2214567120. [PMID: 36947518 PMCID: PMC10068760 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214567120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-term biological time series that monitor ecosystems across the ocean's full water column are extremely rare. As a result, classic paradigms are yet to be tested. One such paradigm is that variations in coastal upwelling drive changes in marine ecosystems throughout the water column. We examine this hypothesis by using data from three multidecadal time series spanning surface (0 m), midwater (200 to 1,000 m), and benthic (~4,000 m) habitats in the central California Current Upwelling System. Data include microscopic counts of surface plankton, video quantification of midwater animals, and imaging of benthic seafloor invertebrates. Taxon-specific plankton biomass and midwater and benthic animal densities were separately analyzed with principal component analysis. Within each community, the first mode of variability corresponds to most taxa increasing and decreasing over time, capturing seasonal surface blooms and lower-frequency midwater and benthic variability. When compared to local wind-driven upwelling variability, each community correlates to changes in upwelling damped over distinct timescales. This suggests that periods of high upwelling favor increase in organism biomass or density from the surface ocean through the midwater down to the abyssal seafloor. These connections most likely occur directly via changes in primary production and vertical carbon flux, and to a lesser extent indirectly via other oceanic changes. The timescales over which species respond to upwelling are taxon-specific and are likely linked to the longevity of phytoplankton blooms (surface) and of animal life (midwater and benthos), which dictate how long upwelling-driven changes persist within each community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique Messié
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA95039
| | - Rob E. Sherlock
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA95039
| | | | | | - C. Anela Choy
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA95039
- Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA92093
| | | | - Kevin Gomes
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA95039
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García-Reyes M, Thompson SA, Rogers-Bennett L, Sydeman WJ. Winter oceanographic conditions predict summer bull kelp canopy cover in northern California. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0267737. [PMID: 35511813 PMCID: PMC9070938 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, is an iconic kelp forest species of the Northeast Pacific that provides a wide range of ecosystem services to coastal marine species and society. In northern California, U.S.A., Nereocystis abundance declined sharply in 2014 and has yet to recover. While abiotic and biotic stressors were present prior to 2014, the population collapse highlights the need for a better understanding of how environmental conditions impact Nereocystis. In this study, we used a newly-developed, satellite-based dataset of bull kelp abundance, proxied by canopy cover over 20 years, to test the hypothesis that winter oceanographic conditions determine summer Nereocystis canopy cover. For the years before the collapse (1991 through 2013), wintertime ocean conditions, synthesized in a Multivariate Ocean Climate Indicator (MOCI), were indeed a good predictor of summer Nereocystis canopy cover (R2 = 0.40 to 0.87). We attribute this relationship to the effects of upwelling and/or temperature on nutrient availability. South of Point Arena, California, winter ocean conditions had slightly lower explanatory power than north of Point Arena, also reflective of spring upwelling-driven nutrient entrainment. Results suggest that the Nereocystis gametophytes and/or early sporophytes are sensitive to winter oceanographic conditions. Furthermore, environmental conditions in winter 2014 could have been used to predict the Nereocystis collapse in summer 2014, and for kelp north of Point Arena, a further decline in 2015. Importantly, environmental models do not predict changes in kelp after 2015, suggesting biotic factors suppressed kelp recovery, most likely extreme sea urchin herbivory. Conditions during winter, a season that is often overlooked in studies of biophysical interactions, are useful for predicting summer Nereocystis kelp forest canopy cover, and will be useful in supporting kelp restoration actions in California and perhaps elsewhere in the world.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Laura Rogers-Bennett
- Coastal Marine Science Institute, Karen C. Drayer, Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis, Bodega Marine Lab, Bodega Bay, California, United States of America
- California Department Fish and Wildlife, Bodega Marine Lab, Bodega Bay, California, United States of America
| | - William J. Sydeman
- Farallon Institute, Petaluma, California, United States of America
- Bodega Marine Lab, UC Davis, Bodega Bay, California, United States of America
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Black BA, Andersson C, Butler PG, Carroll ML, DeLong KL, Reynolds DJ, Schöne BR, Scourse J, van der Sleen P, Wanamaker AD, Witbaard R. The revolution of crossdating in marine palaeoecology and palaeoclimatology. Biol Lett 2019; 15:20180665. [PMID: 30958223 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past century, the dendrochronology technique of crossdating has been widely used to generate a global network of tree-ring chronologies that serves as a leading indicator of environmental variability and change. Only recently, however, has this same approach been applied to growth increments in calcified structures of bivalves, fish and corals in the world's oceans. As in trees, these crossdated marine chronologies are well replicated, annually resolved and absolutely dated, providing uninterrupted multi-decadal to millennial histories of ocean palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological processes. Moreover, they span an extensive geographical range, multiple trophic levels, habitats and functional types, and can be readily integrated with observational physical or biological records. Increment width is the most commonly measured parameter and reflects growth or productivity, though isotopic and elemental composition capture complementary aspects of environmental variability. As such, crossdated marine chronologies constitute powerful observational templates to establish climate-biology relationships, test hypotheses of ecosystem functioning, conduct multi-proxy reconstructions, provide constraints for numerical climate models, and evaluate the precise timing and nature of ocean-atmosphere interactions. These 'present-past-future' perspectives provide new insights into the mechanisms and feedbacks between the atmosphere and marine systems while providing indicators relevant to ecosystem-based approaches of fisheries management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan A Black
- 1 Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona , 1215 E Lowell St, Tucson, AZ 85721 , USA
| | - Carin Andersson
- 2 NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research , Jahnebakken 5, 5007 Bergen , Norway
| | - Paul G Butler
- 3 CGES, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter , Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ , UK
| | - Michael L Carroll
- 4 Akvaplan-niva AS, Fram - High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment , PO Box 6606 Langnes, 9296 Tromsø , Norway
| | - Kristine L DeLong
- 5 Department of Geography & Anthropology and the Coastal Studies institute, Louisiana State University , 227 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex E326, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 , USA
| | - David J Reynolds
- 6 School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University , Cardiff CF10 3AT , UK
| | - Bernd R Schöne
- 7 Institute of Geosciences, University of Mainz , Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 21, 55128 Mainz , Germany
| | - James Scourse
- 8 CGES, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter , Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ , UK
| | - Peter van der Sleen
- 9 Department of Wetland Ecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Josefstrasse 1, Rastatt 76437 , Germany
| | - Alan D Wanamaker
- 10 Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University , 2237 Osborn Drive, Ames, IA 50011 , USA
| | - Rob Witbaard
- 11 Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) , PO Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke , the Netherlands
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Passuni G, Barbraud C, Chaigneau A, Demarcq H, Ledesma J, Bertrand A, Castillo R, Perea A, Mori J, Viblanc VA, Torres-MaitaA J, Bertrand S. Seasonality in marine ecosystems: Peruvian seabirds, anchovy, and oceanographic conditions. Ecology 2016; 97:182-93. [PMID: 27008787 DOI: 10.1890/14-1134.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In fluctuating environments, matching breeding timing to periods of high resource availability is crucial for the fitness of many vertebrate species, and may have major consequences on population health. Yet, our understanding of the proximate environmental cues driving seasonal breeding is limited. This is particularly the case in marine ecosystems, where key environmental factors and prey abundance and availability are seldom quantified. The Northern Humboldt Current System (NHCS) is a highly productive, low-latitude ecosystem of moderate seasonality. In this ecosystem, three tropical seabird species (the Guanay Cormorant Phalacrocorax bougainvillii, the Peruvian Booby Sula variegata, and the Peruvian Pelican Pelecanus thagus) live in sympatry and prey almost exclusively on anchovy, Engraulis ringens. From January 2003 to December 2012, we monitored 31 breeding sites along the Peruvian coast to investigate the breeding cycle of these species. We tested for relationships between breeding timing, oceanographic conditions, and prey availability using occupancy models. We found that all three seabird species exhibited seasonal breeding patterns, with marked interspecific differences. Whereas breeding mainly started during the austral winter/early spring and ended in summer/early fall, this pattern was stronger in boobies and pelicans than in cormorants. Breeding onset mainly occurred when upwelling was intense but ecosystem productivity was below its annual maxima, and when anchovy were less available and in poor physiological condition. Conversely, the abundance and availability of anchovy improved during chick rearing and peaked around the time of fledging. These results suggest that breeding timing is adjusted so that fledging may occur under optimal environmental conditions, rather than being constrained by nutritional requirements during egg laying. Adjusting breeding time so that fledglings meet optimal conditions at independence is unique compared with other upwelling ecosystems and could be explained by the relatively high abundances of anchovy occurring throughout the year in the NHCS.
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Black BA, Sydeman WJ, Frank DC, Griffin D, Stahle DW, García-Reyes M, Rykaczewski RR, Bograd SJ, Peterson WT. Climate change. Six centuries of variability and extremes in a coupled marine-terrestrial ecosystem. Science 2014; 345:1498-502. [PMID: 25237100 DOI: 10.1126/science.1253209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Reported trends in the mean and variability of coastal upwelling in eastern boundary currents have raised concerns about the future of these highly productive and biodiverse marine ecosystems. However, the instrumental records on which these estimates are based are insufficiently long to determine whether such trends exceed preindustrial limits. In the California Current, a 576-year reconstruction of climate variables associated with winter upwelling indicates that variability increased over the latter 20th century to levels equaled only twice during the past 600 years. This modern trend in variance may be unique, because it appears to be driven by an unprecedented succession of extreme, downwelling-favorable, winter climate conditions that profoundly reduce productivity for marine predators of commercial and conservation interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan A Black
- University of Texas Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA.
| | - William J Sydeman
- Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research, 101 H Street, Suite Q, Petaluma, CA 94952, USA
| | - David C Frank
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Zähringerstrasse 25, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Griffin
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - David W Stahle
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, 216 Ozark Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
| | - Marisol García-Reyes
- Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research, 101 H Street, Suite Q, Petaluma, CA 94952, USA
| | - Ryan R Rykaczewski
- Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, 701 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - Steven J Bograd
- Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 1352 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - William T Peterson
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Hatfield Marine Science Center, NOAA, 2030 Southeast Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365, USA
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