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University of Massachusetts Boston |
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Department of Environmental, Coastal and Ocean Sciences |
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US GLOBEC Northeast Pacific Studies Mesoscale zooplankton distributions |
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Project description This proposal addresses one of 3 central hypotheses of the U.S. GLOBEC Northeast Pacific (NEP) Study: “Spatial and temporal variability in mesoscale circulation constitutes the dominant physical forcing on zooplankton biomass, production, distribution, species interactions and retention and loss in coastal regions.” (U.S. GLOBEC Northeast Pacific Implementation Plan, U.S. GLOBEC Report No. 17). We respond to specific components of the NOAA/NSF GLOBEC announcement which call for: • 3-dimensional mesoscale surveys (in a 100-km-wide coastal region from Newport, Oregon to Eureka, California) aimed at determining the distribution and productivity of zooplankton in relation to their physical environment, and • process studies focused on understanding zooplankton in situ population dynamics processes and the interaction between physical and biological processes. We propose to study both physical and biological processes, and their spatiotemporal coupling, by measuring and mathematically deducing individual processes of advection, vertical migration, and rates of productivity. We will use the integrated Sea-Soar-Optical Plankton Counter (OPC) and ADCP in mesoscale surveys, coupled with critical net sampling, to resolve spatial and temporal distributions of size- and species-structured zooplankton at the mesoscale. Rates pertinent to population dynamics will be determined from the biomass spectral method (Zhou and Huntley, 1997) in conjunction with certain complementary and independent field measurements. |
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Meng Zhou 100 Morrissey Blvd Boston, MA 02125 Phone: 617-287-7419 E-mail: meng.zhou@umb.edu |
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Special notes: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE0002257 Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation |