Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Upwelling-driven nearshore hypoxia signals ecosystem and oceanographic changes in the northeast Pacific

Nature volume 429, pages 749–754 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Seasonal development of dissolved-oxygen deficits (hypoxia) represents an acute system-level perturbation to ecological dynamics and fishery sustainability in coastal ecosystems around the globe1,2,3. Whereas anthropogenic nutrient loading has increased the frequency and severity of hypoxia in estuaries and semi-enclosed seas3,4, the occurrence of hypoxia in open-coast upwelling systems reflects ocean conditions that control the delivery of oxygen-poor and nutrient-rich deep water onto continental shelves1. Upwelling systems support a large proportion of the world's fisheries5, therefore understanding the links between changes in ocean climate, upwelling-driven hypoxia and ecological perturbations is critical. Here we report on the unprecedented development of severe inner-shelf (<70 m) hypoxia and resultant mass die-offs of fish and invertebrates within the California Current System. In 2002, cross-shelf transects revealed the development of abnormally low dissolved-oxygen levels as a response to anomalously strong flow of subarctic water into the California Current System. Our findings highlight the sensitivity of inner-shelf ecosystems to variation in ocean conditions, and the potential impacts of climate change on marine communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Location of the 2002 hypoxic zone and hydrographic transects off Oregon.
Figure 2: Timeline of observations, both continuous (a–c) and discrete (1–6).
Figure 3: Impact of hypoxia on rockfish communities.
Figure 4: Dissolved-oxygen profiles.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Naqvi, S. W. A. et al. Increased marine production of N2O due to intensifying anoxia on the Indian continental shelf. Nature 408, 346–349 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Diaz, R. J. Overview of hypoxia around the world. J. Environ. Qual. 30, 275–281 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rabalais, N. N. & Turner, R. E. in Coastal Hypoxia: Consequences for Living Resources and Ecosystems (eds Rabalais, N. N. & Turner, R. E.) 1–36 (American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  4. National Research Council. Coastal Waters: Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution (National Academy Press, Washington DC, 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Pauly, D. & Christensen, V. Primary production required to sustain global fisheries. Nature 374, 255–257 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Chavez, F. P., Ryan, J., Lluch-Cota, S. E. & Niquen, M. From anchovies to sardines and back: Multidecadal change in the Pacific Ocean. Science 299, 217–221 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bakun, A. Global climate change and intensification of coastal ocean upwelling. Science 247, 198–201 (1990)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Roemmich, D. & McGowan, J. Climatic warming and the decline of zooplankton in the California Current. Science 267, 1324–1326 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wheeler, P. A., Huyer, A. & Fleischbein, J. Cold halocline, increased nutrients and higher productivity off Oregon in 2002. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8021 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017395)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Freeland, H. J., Gatien, G., Huyer, A. & Smith, R. L. Cold halocline in the northern California current: an invasion of subarctic water. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 1141 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2002GL016663)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Diaz, R. J. & Rosenberg, R. Marine benthic hypoxia: a review of its ecological effects and the behavioural responses of benthic macrofauna. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 33, 245–303 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  12. National Marine Fisheries Service. Our Living Oceans (NOAA Technical Memo NMFS-F/SPO-41, US Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Dillman, T. Abundance of Fish on Area Reefs Delights, Puzzles Divers (Newport News-Times, Newport, Oregon, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Huyer, A. Coastal upwelling in the California current system. Prog. Oceanogr. 112, 259–284 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kamykowski, D. & Zentara, S. J. Hypoxia in the world ocean as recorded in the historical data set. Deep-Sea Res. 37, 1861–1874 (1990)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Fleischbein, J. Northeast Pacific long term observation program. US GLOBEC 〈http://globec.oce.orst.edu/groups/nep/index.html〉 (2003)

  17. Huyer, A., Smith, R. L. & Pillsbury, R. D. Observations in a coastal upwelling region during a period of variable winds (Oregon coast, July 1972). Tethys 6, 391–404 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Oke, P. R. et al. A modelling study of the three-dimensional continental shelf circulation off Oregon. Part I: Model-data comparisons. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 32, 1360–1382 (2002)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Thomas, A. C., Strub, T., Brickley, P. & James, C. Anomalous satellite-measured chlorophyll concentrations in the northern California Current in 2001–2002. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8022 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017409)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bailey, G. W., Beyers, C. J. B. & Lipschitz, S. R. Seasonal variation of oxygen deficiency in waters off southern south west Africa in 1975 and 1976 and its relation to the catchability and distribution of the cape rock lobster Jasus lalandii. S. Afr. J. Mar. Sci. 3, 197–214 (1985)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Morales, C. E., Hormazabal, S. E. & Blanco, J. L. Interannual variability in the mesoscale distribution of the depth of the upper boundary of the oxygen minimum layer off northern Chile (18–24S): Implications for the pelagic system and biogeochemical cycling. J. Mar. Res. 57, 909–932 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Strub, P. T. & James, C. Altimeter estimates of anomalous transports into the northern California Current during 2000–2002. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8025 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017513)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Barth, J. A. Anomalous southward advection during 2002 in the northern California Current: evidence from Lagrangian surface drifters. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8024 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017511)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Kosro, P. M. Enhanced southward flow over the Oregon shelf in 2002: a conduit for subarctic water. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8023 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017436)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Murphree, T., Bograd, S. J., Schwing, F. B. & Ford, B. Large-scale atmosphere–ocean anomalies in the northeast Pacific during 2002. Geophys. Res. Lett. [online] 30, 8026 (2003) (doi:10.1029/2003GL017303)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Fox, D. S., Amend, M., Merems, A. & Appy, M. Near-shore rocky reef assessment. Oregon Dept. Fish Wildl. Mar. Prog. 〈http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/odfw/habitat/reports/2000kelp_reef_report.pdf〉 (2000)

  27. O'Malley, R. SeaSoar observations during the Coastal Ocean Advances in Shelf Transport (COAST) mesoscale surveys I and II. 〈http://damp.coas.oregonstate.edu/coast/seasoar〉 (2003).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank A. Kirincich for ADCP analyses, S. Oda and A. Walters for assistance and A. Pazar for crab fishery data. The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the US GLOBEC program, jointly funded by NSF and NOAA, both contributed to this work. J.A.B. acknowledges additional funding from NSF. ODFW ROV survey work was funded in part by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development through NOAA.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Brian A. Grantham, Francis Chan and Karina J. Nielsen: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Washington State Department of Ecology, Coastal and Estuarine Assessment Unit, Olympia, Washington, 98504, USA

    Brian A. Grantham

  2. Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

    Francis Chan, Jane Lubchenco & Bruce A. Menge

  3. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

    John A. Barth & Adriana Huyer

  4. Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, 94928, USA

    Karina J. Nielsen

  5. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Resources Program, Newport, Oregon, 97365, USA

    David S. Fox

Authors
  1. Brian A. Grantham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Francis Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karina J. Nielsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David S. Fox
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John A. Barth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Adriana Huyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jane Lubchenco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Bruce A. Menge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francis Chan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Table S1

Average, minimum and maximum DO and chl-a concentrations along the SH hydroline. (DOC 24 kb)

Supplementary Figure S1

Dissolved oxygen source properties and depletion patterns across the shelf. (DOC 1209 kb)

Supplementary Figure S2

Composite cross-shelf profiles of temperature, salinity, density, nitrate+nitrite, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved oxygen, SH line, 11-12 August, 2002. (DOC 78 kb)

Supplementary Figure S3

Chl-a concentration (mg l-1) at 5 meters depth over Heceta Bank from 9-11 August 2002. (DOC 214 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Grantham, B., Chan, F., Nielsen, K. et al. Upwelling-driven nearshore hypoxia signals ecosystem and oceanographic changes in the northeast Pacific. Nature 429, 749–754 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02605

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02605

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing