Barnacle larvae transport Mikaela Provost Physical Oceanography 1222010 California Current Eastern edge of the North Pacific Gyre Moves south along the western coast of North America bringing cool water from Alaska to Baja California ID: 221894
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Slide1
California Current &
Barnacle larvae transport
Mikaela
Provost
Physical Oceanography 12/2/2010Slide2
California Current
Eastern edge of the North
Pacific Gyre.
Moves south along the western coast of North America bringing cool water from Alaska to Baja California.Slide3
What sustains the CA current?
- Westerlie
winds drive the California currentSlide4
Upwelling is characteristic
pfeg.noaa.gov
-
Ekman
transport offshore yields strong upwelling along the CA coast, supporting a high level of marine biodiversity Slide5
Sea Surface Temperature
- Cool water, an indicator of upwelling.
- Transport can be as much as 300 m
3
/sec
- Strongest upwelling in summerSlide6
Currents and barnacle recruitment
Question facing many marine ecologists: Observe large fluctuations in the abundance of barnacle stock populations, and yet the environment seems to be highly productive.
Each data point represents a total of 7 days of settlement of acorn barnacles on six 10 cm x 10 cm plates.Slide7
Upwelling Intensity & Population Variability
- Higher recruitment associated with weaker cases of upwelling.
- Intertidal barnacle larvae carried offshore with strong upwelling, lower probability of encountering adult habitat for settlement.Slide8
Reasons for variation in barnacle populations:Slide9
References
Alexander and Roughgarden. 1996. Larval Transport and Population Dynamics of Intertidal Barnacles: A Coupled Benthic/Oceanic Model. Ecological Monographs 66: 259-275
Farrell
etal
. 1991. Cross-shelf transport causes recruitment to intertidal populations in central California.
Limnological
Oceanography 36: 279-288.
Shkedy
and
Roughgarden
. 1997. Barnacle recruitment and population dynamics predicted from coastal upwelling.
Oikos
80: 487-498.
http://mlo.stanford.edu/barnacles.htm