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Molecular markers of zooplankton dispersal in the ocean
Author(s) -
Bucklin Ann
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/95rg00497
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , zooplankton , oceanography , plankton , pelagic zone , abundance (ecology) , environmental science , spatial ecology , biological oceanography , biomass (ecology) , ecology , geology , biology , population , demography , sociology
Ocean circulation patterns determine in large part the patterns of biological productivity in coastal and oceanic waters. Prediction of the spatial patterns of secondary production in the ocean is particularly difficult since dispersal of zooplankton is a function of both passive transport and active swimming by zooplankton, which may exhibit highly variable behavioral responses to flow. Quantitative estimates of dispersal are particularly difficult to obtain for marine zooplankton; the difficulty of direct observation of dispersal processes is magnified by their small size and numerical abundance and by the vast distances they traverse. The inaccessibility of the open ocean further compounds the problem, since many parts of the ocean are difficult to sample with the spatial intensity and temporal frequency necessary to determine dispersal processes. Unlike biomass and abundance estimates for marine planktonic species, dispersal processes may not be amenable to remote monitoring.