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JPR Advance Access published online on December 10, 2007
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbm107
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Temporal Patterns of Species Composition of Siliceous Phytoplankton Flux in the Santa Barbara Basin

E.L. Venrick1,*, C.B. Lange2, F.M.H. Reid1 and E. P. Dever3

1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, California 92093-0227, U.S.A 2 Departmento de Oceanografia and Centro FONDAP-COPAS, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Barrio Universitario, Concepción, Chile 3 College of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5503, U.S.A.

* corresponding author: evenrick{at}ucsd.edu

Received on August 31, 2007; revised on December 3, 2007; accepted on December 7, 2007


  Abstract

We have examined the species composition of 127 sediment trap samples collected sequentially from the Santa Barbara Basin, U.S.A. during a seven year period. The sampling period included two warm water periods (El Ninños) and two cold water periods (one La Ninña and one more local). We examined changes in total species composition and changes in subsets of species accompanying extreme environmental conditions, as well as changes in flux composition associated with periods of anomalous flux. Our goal was to improve the scale and precision of hindcasting past conditions from the sedimentary record and, hence, prediction of the biological consequences of environmental change. Although large scale climate events were accompanied by changes in the flux composition, there was little similarity in composition during environmentally similar periods, precluding generalization. 84% of the flux (number of cells/m2/day) and 89% of its variability were due to changes in the flux of four dominant species. Anomalous flux events were due to changes in flux of these species rather than introduction of new flora. Rare species showed the same patterns as the flora as a whole: there were changes in composition associated with extreme environmental temperatures but little redundancy of species between similar periods. Our data indicate that, at present, we can predict only that the specific composition of flux will change in response to extreme environmental conditions. It is premature to generalize about the specific composition of that response. Knowledge about mechanisms linking flux with ocean environment is currently insufficient to permit the precision of hindcast and prediction that we were seeking from our data. Nevertheless, species composition remains a potentially important tool for interpreting past environmental conditions on both the regional and local scales.

Key Words: diatoms • flux • ENSO • Santa Barbara Basin

Communicating Editor: K. J. Flynn


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