Towards Dynamic Biological Oceanography and Limnology

Abstract

A new approach that couples the study of biological and hydrodynamic processes has progressively emerged in the biological oceanographic and limnological literature. A review of a large number of papers on phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish larvae published in the last decade brings out the major characteristics of a new discipline, termed by the authors "dynamic biological oceanography" or "dynamic biological limnology." These studies recognize hydrodynamics as the driving force of aquatic ecosystems, so that the various physical, chemical, and biological factors of the environment are considered as the proximal agents through which hydrodynamic variability is transmitted to living organisms. A central idea to dynamic biological oceanography and limnology is that different hydrodynamic processes and different biological responses occur on different spatial and temporal scales. This leads to a discussion of spatial and temporal scales on both the horizontal and vertical axes and of the relationships between the physical and biological scales, on the one hand, and the sampling scale, on the other. Anticipated forthcoming developments concern the eventual merging of horizontal and vertical studies in an integrated approach to aquatic ecosystems and the design of new sampling techniques and schemes to probe the significant scales of variation in dynamic biological oceanography and limnology. Common lines of research are suggested for the coming years.