The quality and availability of forage fishes and invertebrates can affect the behavior and productivity of predators that rely on these resources. This study measures the proximate composition of forage fishes and invertebrates from the southeastern Bering Sea to estimate prey energy density (quality) using a method that is ecologically...
The Northern California Current (NCC) ecosystem exhibits extreme seasonal, interannual and interdecadal shifts in the abiotic environment and shifts in primary and higher production. This variability is also apparent in the spatial structure of the ecosystem with nearshore-shelf waters (<150 m isobath) being highly productive and having a different community...
Zooplankton samples taken during daylight periods in a fast flushing estuary on the Central Oregon coast were analyzed for Brachyuran and Anomuran larvae and also for benthic gammaridean amphipods and Myscidacea. Several larval stages of Pinnixa littoralis, Hemigrapsus oregonensis, Pachycheles spp., Cancer oregonensis and Pagurus granosimanus were sufficiently abundant for...
The influence of the physical environment on organisms has long been a subject of ecological research. But, the complex drivers of environmental variation, and the multiple scales at which this can occur, make studying this topic a difficult challenge. In rocky intertidal habitats, oceanographic- and climate-scale variability influence benthic communities...
Many phytoplankton and macroalgae release dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Many macroalgae also produce and store secondary metabolites which in some case have been shown to deter their grazers. The metabolites may be released into the surrounding seawater and could inhibit primary production. On the other hand, some phytoplankton can use...
Phytoplankton and microzooplankton comprise the base and the first link of the marine food web, respectively. These microbes are key drivers of marine carbon and nutrient cycles. Phytoplankton convert atmospheric CO₂ into organic carbon, and microzooplankton consume phytoplankton, packaging phytoplankton carbon into particulate forms that have a variety of fates:...
The effects of harvesting Pacific hake (Merluccius productus)
were examined with a multi-species numerical model composed of
seven logistic growth equations coupled by a food web. The
food web was composed of: California sea lions (Zalophus
californianus), hake, sablefish (Anaplopoma fimbria), spiny
dogfish (Squalus acanthias), a generic rockfish species
(Sebastes...
For hundreds of years, coastal and marine ecosystems have experienced increasing threats due to the cumulative effects of increasing population growth and dependence on these ecosystems. Thus, there has been increased enthusiasm to mitigate the negative effects of human actions through the use of cleaner sources of energy, like marine...
Long-term, naturally occurring cycles can cause significant shifts in marine
ecosystems referred to as regime shifts. While the new regime can be as
diverse and ecologically acceptable as that which it replaced, individual
species may completely disappear or be greatly depressed when a regime
shift occurs. In this work we...