ERD Climate-Ecosystem Group Research Themes
We are a group of NOAA and UC Santa Cruz oceanographers and ecologists that are examining how physical and biological processes affect the California Current Ecosystem. Below are some of our research themes that highlight our work. Please see who we are and our recent publications at the links above.
Our group values diversity. We are immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. We are atheists, agnostics, and people of faith. We don’t all look the same, love the same, or share the same heroes. We are scientists.
Our group values diversity. We are immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. We are atheists, agnostics, and people of faith. We don’t all look the same, love the same, or share the same heroes. We are scientists.
1) Characterizing and Understanding Variability in the California Current Ecosystem: The CCE varies on a wide spectrum of spatial-temporal scales. Effective management of living marine resources must account for this variability and provide indicators that represent critical ecological scales. We perform core research and produce leading ecological indicators of climate-ecosystem interactions, contribute to a number of ecosystem status reports and assessments, and lead the science effort supporting the California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA).
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2) Seasonality of Physical-Biological Processes: The life cycles of many marine organisms are closely tied to seasonal processes, and their variability must be part of ecosystem-based management and planning. We study the timing of seasonal upwelling as it affects match-mismatch of trophic interactions, and as an early indicator of ecosystem disruptions due to natural fluctuations and climate change
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3) North Pacific Climate Variability, Climate Change & Ecosystem Response: Effective Ecosystem Based Management must consider major ecosystem fluctuations, which are associated with interannual to decadal shifts in environmental conditions and forcing. By understanding variability and ecosystem impacts we can better plan for long term climate change. Our research monitors long-term physical and ecological trends, improves time series methods for detecting regime shifts, classifying El Niño impacts, and understanding regional responses to climate forcing.
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4) Characterizing Habitat and Ecology of Marine Species: Climate variability and change will alter the location, quality and use of critical habitat. We use historical observations, remote sensing, fisheries-dependent data, and biologging to identify and monitor change in critical habitat and to understand the fine scale ecology of commercially important and protected species.
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Theoretical response of blue whale diving-foraging performance as a function of prey density and depth on high-density (left) and low- density (right) density prey patches. |
5) Oceanographic Influences on Marine Top Predators: Effective management and conservation of protected species requires an understanding of how animals utilize their environment. We use biologging and habitat modeling to characterize top marine predator hot spots and identify and describe critical habitat, a key research element of marine spatial planning.
6) Ecosystem Modeling of the California Current: Models are required to provide an integrated assessment of marine ecosystems and to predict the effects of climate change on marine populations. We are developing and using lower trophic models and coupled physical-biological models, to bridge the gap between physical forcing and ecosystem structure and function. We also investigate projected changes in top predator distribution and habitat viability under climate change scenarios, using global climate models.