What is it about?
The spring phytoplankton bloom plays a key role in the ecosystem dynamics of temperate and polar seas. We have shown that, in the Bay of Biscay (and potentially in other temperate areas), the mixing of the water column during winter drives to a large extent the interannual variability of the spring bloom: deeper and later mixing in winter was followed by later, larger and more productive blooms. Global warming may lead to a weaker winter mixing and, consequently, to smaller spring phytoplankton blooms.
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Why is it important?
We showed the strong link between deep winter mixing and different features of the spring phytoplankton bloom, improving our current understanding of how marine ecosystem operates and changes through time. The information obtained would be especially relevant for areas such as climate and ecosystem modeling, marine conservation, fisheries management strategies and climate change policies.
Perspectives
The whole experience of writing this article was rewarding and challenging: I improved my programming and analytical skills, gained a more detailed and broad view of the marine ecosystem functioning and worked with exceptional colleagues that make all the process much easier. I hope you enjoy reading our work and find it useful.
Ricardo González-Gil
University of Strathclyde
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Winter-mixing preconditioning of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Bay of Biscay, Limnology and Oceanography, December 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/lno.10769.
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