Advancing an Ecosystem Approach in the Gulf of Maine

<i>Abstract</i>.—Zooplankton communities perform a critical role as secondary producers in marine ecosystems. They are vulnerable to climate-induced changes in the marine environment, including temperature, stratification, and circulation, but the effects of these changes are difficult to discern without sustained ocean monitoring. The physical, chemical, and biological environment of the Gulf of Maine, including Georges Bank, is strongly influenced by inflow from the Scotian Shelf and through the Northeast Channel, and thus observations both in the Gulf of Maine and in upstream regions are necessary to understand plankton variability and change in the Gulf of Maine. Large-scale, quasi synoptic plankton surveys have been performed in the Gulf of Maine since Bigelow’s work at the beginning of the 20th century. More recently, ongoing plankton monitoring efforts include Continuous Plankton Recorder sampling in the Gulf of Maine and on the Scotian Shelf, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service’s MARMAP (Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and Prediction) and EcoMon (Ecosystem Monitoring) programs sampling the northeast U.S. Continental Shelf, including the Gulf of Maine, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program on the Scotian Shelf and in the eastern Gulf of Maine. Here, we review and compare past and ongoing zooplankton monitoring programs in the Gulf of Maine region, including Georges Bank and the western Scotian Shelf, to facilitate retrospective analysis and broadscale synthesis of zooplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Maine. Additional sustained sampling at greater-than-monthly frequency at selected sites in the Gulf of Maine would be necessary to detect changes in phenology (i.e. seasonal timing of biological events). Sustained zooplankton sampling in critical nearshore fish habitats and in key feeding areas for upper trophic level organisms, such as marine mammals and seabirds, would yield significant insights into their dynamics. The ecosystem dynamics of the Gulf of Maine are strongly influenced by large-scale forcing and variability in upstream inflow. Improved coordination of sampling and data analysis among monitoring programs, effective data management, and use of multiple modeling approaches will all enhance the mechanistic understanding of the structure and function of the Gulf of Maine pelagic ecosystem.

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