Detecting relationships between the interannual variability in ecological time series and climate using a multivariate statistical approach‹a case study on Helgoland Roads zooplankton

Abstract

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 10:179-191 (1998) - doi:10.3354/cr010179 Detecting relationships between the interannual variability in ecological time series and climate using a multivariate statistical approach--a case study on Helgoland Roads zooplankton Hauke Heyen1,*, Heino Fock2, Wulf Greve2 1GKSS Institut für Gewässerphysik, Max-Planck-Straße, D-21502 Geesthacht, Germany 2Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Notkestraße 31, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany *E-mail: heyen@gkss.de ABSTRACT: A multivariate statistical approach is presented that allows a systematic search for potential relationships between the variability in ecological time series and climate records. In this study, interannual variability in large- and mesoscale climate variables in the North Sea region is compared with variability in local zooplankton observations from Helgoland. The species Noctiluca scintillans (Protozoa), Temora longicornis and Acartia sp. (Copepoda), and spionid larvae (Polychaeta) are examined. The multivariate model detected several high correlations between zooplankton abundance and winter climate. Based on these correlations, complementary hypotheses about the causal relationships are discussed using available local data. KEY WORDS: Zooplankton · Climate · Variability · North Sea · Empirical Orthogonal Functions · Canonical Correlation Full text in pdf format PreviousNextExport citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 10, No. 3. Online publication date: December 10, 1998 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 1998 Inter-Research.