Publication Abstract

Predicting Calanus finmarchicusabundance from climatic signal

B. Planque and P.C. Reid

Long-termfluctuations in the abundance of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the north-eastAtlantic are compared to the North Atlantic Oscillation index over the period 1958-1995.The strong climate-plankton link previously observed is confirmed and a simple linearregression model is constructed with the aim of predicting the abundance of the speciesseveral months in advance. For the years 1993-1995 the model predictions are in accordancewith observations, but not in 1996 when the abundance of C. finmarchicus fell,although the climatic scenario indicated that a sharp increase should have occurred. Thepotential causes of this discrepancy are discussed.

Reference:

B. Planque and P.C. Reid, 1998. Predicting Calanus finmarchicus abundance from climaticsignal. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 78: 1015-1018.