Phytoplankton communities change in response to environmental conditions, potentially impacting zooplankton through altered trophic interactions. In the Bering Sea, warm and cold stanzas in recent decades correlated with changes in community structure of zooplankton and fish. Attempts to link these trends to primary producers based on patterns in total chlorophyll a (Chl a ) concentration have been unsuccessful. Using Chl a as...

Ongoing scientific programs that monitor marine environmental and ecological systems and changes comprise an informal but collaborative, information-rich, and spatially extensive network for the Alaskan Arctic continental shelves. Such programs reflect contributions and priorities of regional, national, and international funding agencies, as well as private donors and communities. These science programs are operated by a varie...

Differences in zooplankton populations in relation to climate have been explored extensively on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf, specifically in relation to recruitment of the commercially important species walleye pollock ( Gadus chalcogrammus ). We addressed two research questions in this study: (i) Does the relative abundance of individual copepod species life history stages differ across warm and cold periods and (ii) Do...

We provide an overview of the physical oceanographic and geological processes that affect marine biological habitats and production in the marine waters throughout the archipelago and continental shelf of Southeast Alaska. Given the paucity of regional data, our overview summarizes work done in adjacent regions of the Gulf of Alaska shelf and basin, and draws on research carried out in similar settings elsewhere. The geologica...

Temporal changes in phytoplankton pigments and spectral absorption were evaluated during June 1998 in East Sound, Orcas Island, Washington. High‐resolution vertical profiles of in situ spectral absorption were obtained with a Wet Labs ac‐9 (nine‐wavelength absorption and beam attenuation meter), and pigment concentrations were determined for discrete water samples using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fucoxanthi...