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Eddy-induced reduction of biological production in eastern boundary upwelling systems

Nature Geoscience volume 4, pages 787–792 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Eddies and other mesoscale oceanic processes, such as fronts, can enhance biological production in the ocean, according to several open-ocean studies. The effect is thought to be particularly pronounced in low-nutrient environments, where mesoscale processes increase the net upward flux of limiting nutrients. However, eddies have been suggested to suppress production in the highly productive eastern boundary upwelling systems. Here, we examine the relationship between satellite-derived estimates of net primary production, of upwelling strength, and of eddy-kinetic energy—a measure of the intensity of mesoscale activity—in the four most productive eastern boundary upwelling systems. We show that high levels of eddy activity tend to be associated with low levels of biological production, indicative of a suppressive effect. Simulations using eddy-resolving models of two of these upwelling systems support the suggestion that eddies suppress production, and show that the downward export of organic matter is also reduced. According to these simulations, the reduction in production and export results from an eddy-induced transport of nutrients from the nearshore environment to the open ocean. Eddies might have a similar effect on marine productivity in other oceanic systems that are characterized by intense eddy activity, such as the Southern Ocean.

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Figure 1: Relationship of observationally based estimates of NPP to upwelling strength and EKE in the four major EBUS.
Figure 2: Modelled impact of eddies on the distribution of primary and export production in the CalCS.
Figure 3: Vertical distribution of modelled density, nitrate, and total organic matter along offshore sections.
Figure 4: Offshore sections illustrating the role of eddies in inducing a lateral loss of total nitrogen (TN) from the CalCS.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by ETH Zürich, by the FP7 project CarboChange (Project reference 264879), by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA-NNG04GJ89G), and by the US National Science Foundation (NSF-ITR and NSF-ICRR). We also thank the Center for Climate Systems Modelling (C2SM) for support. We are grateful to N. Lovenduski for providing us with high-resolution satellite-based climatologies of surface winds and primary production. The EKE product was produced by SSALTO/DUACS as part of the Environment and Climate European Enact project (EVK2-CT2001-00117) and distributed by AVISO, with support from CNES.

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Author notes

  1. Gian-Kasper Plattner

    Present address: Present address: Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8092, Switzerland

    Nicolas Gruber, Zouhair Lachkar, Matthias Münnich & Gian-Kasper Plattner

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

    Hartmut Frenzel & James C. McWilliams

  3. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, LEGOS, 31400 Toulouse, France

    Patrick Marchesiello

  4. Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

    James C. McWilliams

  5. Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan

    Takeyoshi Nagai

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Contributions

N.G. designed the study, co-analysed the data, and wrote the paper. Z.L. assisted in the design of the study, performed most of the experiments, and led the data analyses. H.F. and T.N. ran earlier experiments and assisted in the analyses. P.M., J.C.M., G.K.P. and M.M. provided conceptual and theoretical advice with regard to design and analyses. All authors discussed the results and implications and commented on the manuscript at all stages.

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Correspondence to Nicolas Gruber or Gian-Kasper Plattner.

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Gruber, N., Lachkar, Z., Frenzel, H. et al. Eddy-induced reduction of biological production in eastern boundary upwelling systems. Nature Geosci 4, 787–792 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1273

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