Linking Planktonic Larval Abundance to Internal Bores at the Head of the Monterey Submarine Canyon.

Abstract:

Variability in the physical coastal environment can play an important role in determining the spatio-temporal variation in abundance of planktonic organisms. Combining planktonic larval abundance estimates over the course of a year with concurrent temperature and current data, this study provides empirical data linking a locally predominant internal tidal feature to patterns of biological abundance in the very nearshore environment at the head of Monterey Submarine Canyon. The physical observations indicate the presence of seasonally-variable semidiurnal internal bores that result in the pumping of cold (subthermocline) waters onto the adjacent shelf. Analysis of the larval abundance data indicates an assemblage shift from a relatively abundant shelf assemblage of larval fishes to a reduced abundance assemblage that is concurrent with the semidiurnal cold water intrusions driven by the tidal pumping. Results suggest that the tidal period pumping of subthermocline waters by internal bores dilutes or displaces shelf waters and their associated planktonic larval community. This could have important ecological implications at these scales and may also be of interest when siting industrial facilities that require seawater for cooling or desalination, as it would potentially reduce their impact on regional planktonic communities by diluting their rates of entrainment.