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).

Item Type:	Research Book Chapter
Keywords:	Scotia Sea ecosystem, SO ecosystem, oceanography and sea ice, sea ice dynamics, nutrient, plankton dynamics, krill, of Scotia Sea food web, krill population variability, top-down controls, Scotia sea planktons; ecosystem variability
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Physical oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Terrestrial systems and management
Objective Field:	Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
UTAS Author:	Reid, K (Dr Keith Reid)
ID Code:	119773
Year Published:	2012
Deposited By:	Ecology and Biodiversity
Deposited On:	2017-08-04
Last Modified:	2017-10-20
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