Physical and biological consequences of a climate event in the central North Pacific |
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| Authors: | JEFFREY J POLOVINA GARY T MITCHUM NICK E GRAHAM MITCHELL P CRAIG EDWARD E DEMARTINI ELIZABETH N FLINT |
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| Institution: | Honolulu Laboratory, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 2570 Dole St, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822-2396;Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research (J1MAR), University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822 and Department of Oceanography, SOEST, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822;Climate Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA 92093;Hawaiian &Pacific Islands NWR Complex, US Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 50167, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96850 |
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| Abstract: | Climatic changes over the North Pacific which began in the mid 1970s, peaked in the early 1980s, and ended by the late 1980s, appear to have altered productivity at various trophic levels in the marine ecosystem in the central North Pacific. The climatic change resulted in increased mixed layer depth and the frequency of deep mixing events, particularly during January-March. A number of biological time series for species ranging from primary to apex levels in the North-western Hawaiian Islands, show corresponding declines in productivity of 30–50% from the early 1980s to the present. We hypothesize that during the early 1980s, increased mixing due to the climate event resulted in greater nutrient input into the euphotic zone and ultimately increased ecosystem productivity. Productivity over a range of trophic levels declined when the climate event ended. |
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| Keywords: | central North Pacific decadal climate change North-western Hawaiian Islands physical-biological linkages |
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