Continuous plankton records: changes in the composition and abundance of the phytoplankton of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, 1958-1974
Reid, P.C. (1977). Continuous plankton records: changes in the composition and abundance of the phytoplankton of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, 1958-1974. Mar. Biol. (Berl.) 40(4): 337-339 In: Marine Biology: International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters. Springer: Heidelberg; Berlin. ISSN 0025-3162; e-ISSN 1432-1793, more |  |
| Keywords | Abundance
Aquatic communities > Plankton > Phytoplankton
Climate > Weather
Distribution > Geographical distribution
Environmental effects
Population characteristics > Population number
Temporal variations > Long-term changes
Temporal variations > Periodic variations > Seasonal variations
Bacillariophyceae [WoRMS]; Ceratium F.Schrank, 1793 [WoRMS]
Atlantic North East [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract | In most areas of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, diatoms have declined drastically in abundance in the last decade. Additionally, in areas to the north of 59°N Ceratium spp and an index of total phytoplankton have also declined. South of 59°N the phytoplankton index has increased, diatoms have declined and Ceratium spp have remained at a constant level of abundance . a possible explanation of the increase in the phytoplankton index at a time when the diatoms were declining south of 59°N is the development of unidentified phytoplankton organisms such as microflagellates. As many of the variables influencing phytoplankton standing crop are governed in turn by the prevailing weather, the phytoplankton changes may well be a consequence of the general deterioration, since 1940, of North Atlantic weather. Changes in phytoplankton which may be attributed to an amelioration of climate since 1971 are evident as yet only in the southern North Sea. |
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