Several hypotheses exist that describe phytoplankton spring blooms in temperate and subpolar oceans: the critical depth, shoaling mixed layer (ML), critical turbulence, onset of stratification and disturbance-recovery hypotheses. These theories appear to be mutually exclusive and none of them describe the annual cycle of phytoplankton biomass. Here, we present a model of the annual cycle in phytoplankton that recognizes that phytoplankton are not always mixed throughout the so-called ML, and that it is important to distinguish between the surface biomass and depth-integrated phytoplankton. Once these important distinctions are made, the annual cycles and blooms in surface and depth-integrated phytoplankton can be described straightforwardly in terms of the physical drivers and biotic responses.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	phytoplankton, annual cycles, spring blooms, mixed layer
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Biological Oceanography
Objective Division:	Environment
Objective Group:	Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity
Objective Field:	Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity
Author:	Boyd, PW (Professor Philip Boyd)
ID Code:	108706
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	17
Deposited By:	IMAS Research and Education Centre
Deposited On:	2016-05-04
Last Modified:	2017-11-01
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