edu.ucar.opensky::articles:10842 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T13:34:08.148381 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7hh6kmb Does positioning of the North Pacific Current affect downstream ecosystem productivity? 2011-06-24T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7hh6kmb https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047212 Sydeman, W. author Thompson, S. author Field, J. author Peterson, W. author Tanasichuk, R. author Freeland, H. author Bograd, S. author Rykaczewski, Ryan author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Fluctuations in the positioning of major ocean currents can influence ecosystem dynamics, but previously the technology has been lacking to make direct observational assessments. Here, we test the hypothesis that positioning of the North Pacific Current (NPC) is related to biological attributes of the central-northern California Current Ecosystem (CCE). To test this hypothesis we use newly available data from the Argo array and compare it with a suite of well-known ecosystem indicators over 6 years, 2002 through 2007. We found increased biomass and productivity when the NPC was shifted poleward, and suggest that positioning influences advective transport of nutrients and perhaps key planktonic organisms from the sub-arctic domain thereby enhancing mid to upper trophic level species. This study is significant because climate change is predicted to cause poleward shifts in the westerlies that drive ocean currents and positioning of large marine gyre systems. Rather than reducing ecosystem productivity, poleward shifts in positioning of the NPC may be beneficial for many species of the central-northern CCE. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2011 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation