Macroecology: A Primer for Biological Oceanography

Macroecology is the study of ecological patterns discerned at a spatial, temporal, or organization scale higher than that at which the focal entities interact. Such patterns are statistical or emergent manifestations arising from the ensemble of component entities. Although macroecology is a neologism largely based in terrestrial and avian ecology, macroscopic patterns have long been recognised in biological oceanography. Familiar examples include Redfield elemental stoichiometry, Elton trophic pyramids, Sheldon biomass spectrum, and Margalef life‑forms mandala. Macroecological regularities can often be found along various continua, such as along body size in power‑law scaling or along habitat temperature in metabolic theory. Uniquely in oceanography, a partition of the world ocean continuum into Longhurst biogeochemical provinces provides a spatial organization well‑suited for macroecological investigations. In this rational discrete approach, fundamental processes in physical and biological oceanography that differentiate a set of non‑overlapping ocean regions also appear to shape the macroecological structure of phytoplankton communities.