Primary Productivity as a Function of Absorption, Pigment Based Phytoplankton Diversity And Particle Size Distributions

Angelicque White, Oregon State University, awhite@coas.oregonstate.edu (Presenter)
Amanda Whitmire, Oregon State University, whitmire@coas.oregonstate.edu

We will present preliminary results from a project aimed at improving quantifications of global

ocean primary production (PP) through new observations, reanalysis of existing time-series data and assessment of the role of community composition and size distributions relative to PP models for the expanding, stratified and nutrient-poor seascape of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The underlying rationale of our proposal assumes that community structure and hence size structure can be viewed as an integrator of environmental variables and hence be used to predict the very photo-physiological properties used to model PP from space. This talk will cover findings relative to the following initial objectives for this work: (1) assessment of potential relationships between PP parameterizations and community structure derived from discrete pigment analyses, absorbance spectra and particle size distributions (PSD) using Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) data, (2) completion of complementary laboratory investigations to develop basis vectors and determine the shape of PSD for common bloom-forming genera and (3) perform in situ size-fractionation experiments to investigate the relationship between size structure and PP in a series of cruises conducted each year of this project.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Coupled Processes at Land-Atmosphere-Ocean Interfaces   (Mon 4:00 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• White, Angelicque: Primary productivity as a function of absorption, pigment based phytoplankton diversity and particle size distributions ...details

Poster Location ID: 94