Optical, Chemical, and Biological Oceanographic Conditions on the Scotian Shelf and in the Eastern Gulf of Maine during 2018

Ocean nutrient and plankton conditions on the Scotian Shelf and in the eastern Gulf of Maine were assessed in the context of continued mainly warmer than normal surface and near bottom ocean temperatures in 2018, a pattern that started in 2010, and in light of increasing stratification. Changes in p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDFO - Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. Research Document Vol. 2020; no. 2020/037
Main Authors Casault, B, Johnson, C, Devred, E, Head, E, Cogswell, A, Spry, J
Format Report
LanguageFrench
Published Ottawa Fisheries and Oceans Canada 01.01.2020
Subjects
Abundance
Biomass
Calanus finmarchicus
Chlorophylls
Global warming
Indicator organisms
Marine
Marine ecology
Mineral nutrients
Nitrates
Oceanographic stations
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Plankton blooms
Plankton collecting devices
Plankton surveys
Remote sensing
Salinity
Salinity measurement
Seawater
Water analysis
Water depth
Water properties
Water sampling
Water temperature
Zooplankton
ANW, Scotian Shelf
ANW, Gulf of Maine
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Summary:Ocean nutrient and plankton conditions on the Scotian Shelf and in the eastern Gulf of Maine were assessed in the context of continued mainly warmer than normal surface and near bottom ocean temperatures in 2018, a pattern that started in 2010, and in light of increasing stratification. Changes in phytoplankton and zooplankton communities observed in recent years suggest changes in prey fields for planktivorous fish, birds, and mammals and could be associated with changes in the fate of primary and secondary production in the ecosystem. The 2017 Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) data, as reported here, indicate that the annual averages for the Phytoplankton Colour Index (PCI) were close to normal for the Eastern Scotian Shelf (ESS) and Western Scotian Shelf (WSS), while diatom and dinoflagellate abundances were lower, as seen at Halifax-2. This report provides an assessment of the distribution and variability of nutrients and plankton on the SS and in the eastern Gulf of Maine (GoM), focusing on conditions observed during 2018. It complements assessments for the physical environment of the Maritimes Region (e.g., Hebert et al. 2020) and for the state of the Canadian Northwest Atlantic shelf system as a whole (DFO, 2019).
ISSN:1499-3848
2292-4272