Modeling what we sample and sampling what we model: challenges for zooplankton model assessment

Zooplankton are the intermediate trophic level between phytoplankton and fish, and are an important component of carbon and nutrient cycles, accounting for a large proportion of the energy transfer to pelagic fishes and the deep ocean. Given zooplankton's importance, models need to adequately represent zooplankton dynamics. A major obstacle, though, is the lack of model assessment. Here we try and stimulate the assessment of zooplankton in models by filling three gaps. The first is that many zooplankton observationalists are unfamiliar with the biogeochemical, ecosystem, size-based and individual-based models that have zooplankton functional groups, so we describe their primary uses and how each typically represents zooplankton. The second gap is that many modelers are unaware of the zooplankton data that are available, and are unaccustomed to the different zooplankton sampling systems, so we describe the main sampling platforms and discuss their strengths and weaknesses for model assessment. Filling these gaps in our understanding of models and observations provides the necessary context to address the last gap—a blueprint for model assessment of zooplankton. We detail two ways that zooplankton biomass/abundance observations can be used to assess models: data wrangling that transforms observations to be more similar to model output; and observation models that transform model outputs to be more like observations. We hope that this review will encourage greater assessment of zooplankton in models and ultimately improve the representation of their dynamics

New evidence links changing shelf phytoplankton communities to boundary currents in southeast Tasmania

Southern Tasmanian shelf waters are host to the seasonal interplay of Australia's two poleward boundary currents; the East Australian Current (EAC) and the Leeuwin Current (LC). While the behaviour and properties of the LC remain underexplored, strong research focus has allowed insight into how an intensifying EAC has created greater subtropical influence, leading to changes in the physical and biological oceanography of the region. In this cool temperate setting seven species of dinoflagellates, all in the genus Ceratium, which are more typically associated with warm waters of eastern Australia, were observed. This coincided with the seasonal increase in the EAC's southward penetration beginning in October. Despite the seasonal peak in EAC activity, temperature-salinity plots, nutrient, chlorophyll a and phytoplankton concentrations all indicate the presence of subantarctic waters on the shelf and in coastal waters in summer. Our results are consistent with the description of the EAC as an erratic, eddy-driven current; this itself allowing the periodic influx of subantarctic waters across the shelf. In winter, temperature-salinity plots and nutrient concentrations indicate that the LC was present in southern shelf waters. In addition to its high nitrate signature, the LC displayed low silicate properties in southern Tasmania. Chlorophyll a concentrations revealed a distinct spring bloom event and an extended, productive summer, typical of temperate and subantarctic systems, respectively. This suggests the region is a transitional state between classic seasonal primary production cycles for temperate and subantarctic waters. This paper links changes in southern Tasmanian microphytoplankton communities to shelf ventilation by the EAC, the LC and subantarctic waters, and provides new insight into the oceanography of the region. Consequently, this study provides an awareness of potential phytoplankton perturbations that may be applied to other coastal cool temperate marine environments

Distribution of Euphausiid larvae along the coast of east Antarctica in the Dumont d'Urville Sea (139 °E - 145 °E) during summer 2004.

International audienc

A database of marine larval fish assemblages in Australian temperate and subtropical waters

Larval fishes are a useful metric of marine ecosystem state and change, as well as species-specific patterns in phenology. The high level of taxonomic expertise required to identify larval fishes to species level, and the considerable effort required to collect samples, make these data very valuable. Here we collate 3178 samples of larval fish assemblages, from 12 research projects from 1983-present, from temperate and subtropical Australian pelagic waters. This forms a benchmark for the larval fish assemblage for the region, and includes recent monitoring of larval fishes at coastal oceanographic reference stations. Comparing larval fishes among projects can be problematic due to differences in taxonomic resolution, and identifying all taxa to species is challenging, so this study reports a standard taxonomic resolution (of 218 taxa) for this region to help guide future research. This larval fish database serves as a data repository for surveys of larval fish assemblages in the region, and can contribute to analysis of climate-driven changes in the location and timing of the spawning of marine fishes

Antarctic Landfast Sea Ice: A Review of Its Physics, Biogeochemistry and Ecology

Antarctic landfast sea ice (fast ice) is stationary sea ice that is attached to the coast, grounded icebergs, ice shelves, or other protrusions on the continental shelf. Fast ice forms in narrow (generally up to 200 km wide) bands, and ranges in thickness from centimeters to tens of meters. In most regions, it forms in autumn, persists through the winter and melts in spring/summer, but can remain throughout the summer in particular locations, becoming multi-year ice. Despite its relatively limited extent (comprising between about 4% and 13% of overall sea ice), its presence, variability and seasonality are drivers of a wide range of physical, biological and biogeochemical processes, with both local and far-ranging ramifications for the Earth system. Antarctic fast ice has, until quite recently, been overlooked in studies, likely due to insufficient knowledge of its distribution, leading to its reputation as a “missing piece of the Antarctic puzzle.” This review presents a synthesis of current knowledge of the physical, biogeochemical and biological aspects of fast ice, based on the sub-domains of: fast ice growth, properties and seasonality; remote-sensing and distribution; interactions with the atmosphere and the ocean; biogeochemical interactions; its role in primary production; and fast ice as a habitat for grazers. Finally, we consider the potential state of Antarctic fast ice at the end of the 21st Century, underpinned by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model projections. This review also gives recommendations for targeted future work to increase our understanding of this critically-important element of the global cryosphere.A. D. Fraser ... A. R. Klekociuk ... et al