Publication Abstract

Recent changes in the summer plankton of the North Sea

R.R. Dickson, J.M. Colebrook and G. Svendsen

The results of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey are used to identify changes in the summer plankton of the North Sea during the 1980s. These changes are principally concerned with the Ceratium group of dinoflagellate species and are unprecedented in a CPR record of over three decades' duration. In 1987-1988, Ceratium species increased greatly in abundance in the north-central North Sea, apparently in response to a temporary change in the local climate. During these years, the highly stratified conditions that these species not only like but require were reinforced through the westward transport of fresh surface water from the Skagerrak and Norwegian coast under the stress of an anomalously strong easterly air stream.

Reference:

R.R. Dickson, J.M. Colebrook and G. Svendsen, 1992. Recent changes in the summer plankton of the North Sea. ICES Marine Science Symposium, 195: 232-242.