Spatial and temporal operation of the Scotia Sea ecosystem

Analysis of the operation of ocean ecosystems requires an understanding of how the structure of the ecosystem is determined by interactions between physical, chemical and biological processes. Such analysis needs to consider the interactions across a wide range of spatial (approx. 10 m–10,000 km) and temporal (minutes to centuries) scales and trophic levels (primary producers to top predators) (Angel, 1994; Murphy et al., 1988; Werner et al., 2003). There are, however, few areas of the global ocean where there is sufficient knowledge to achieve such an integrated analysis (deYoung et al., 2004). Circulation patterns of the major ocean gyres, such as the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, involve movement of water masses through very different climatic regimes which favour distinctly different groups of organisms (Longhurst, 1998). Generating comprehensive views of the operation of oceanic ecosystems is complicated as a result of such heterogeneity in species distribution and ecosystem structure (Levin, 1990; Longhurst, 1998; Murphy et al., 1988).