Episodicity in phytoplankton dynamics in a coastal region

Abstract

AbstractMuch is still unknown about the control of oceanic biological production, especially in coastal areas where daily changes can be as large as seasonal variability. Both data scarcity and a lack of methods with sufficient coverage in space and time hinder our progress. Here we present a satellite‐derived proxy for net community production where simulated velocity fields are combined with satellite data to create a comprehensive accounting of spatial and temporal scales of biological production in the Southern California Bight. Statistical analyses show that rare events exert a major influence when estimating mean production over seasonal time scales: about 65% of change in biomass is caused by the 10% highest values in our data set. The results suggest that frequencies of rare events might be as important for biological production as seasonal averages. Our work highlights the need for additional data sets sampled at higher frequencies and shorter spatial scales.