Physical controls and ecological implications of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf

Cyr, Frédéric; Lewis, Keith P.; Bélanger, David; Regular, Paul M.; Clay, Stephanie; Devred, Émmanuel

doi:10.1002/lol2.10347

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Phytoplankton bloom timing on the Grand Banks is negatively correlated with the NLCI (Cyr et al, 2023), indicating that yellowtail recruitment on the Grand Banks may also be affected by match/mismatch of larvae and their prey. Meanwhile, the timing of increases in plaice M that are explained by the NLCI matches the timing of the shift in plaice spatial distribution following exposure to the coldest temperatures in the late 1980s-early 1990s (Robertson et al, 2021).…”

Section: Grand Bank Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing models of increasing complexity to develop ecosystem‐informed fisheries advice

Robertson,

Cadigan,

Regular

et al. 2024

Fish and Fisheries

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Despite continued calls for the application of ecosystem‐based fisheries management, tactical fisheries management continues to be heavily reliant on single‐species stock assessments. These stock assessments rarely quantitatively integrate the effects of ecosystem processes on fish stock productivity. This lack of integration is ultimately driven by the complexity of interactions between populations, ecosystems and fisheries, which produces uncertainty when defining which processes to include and how to include them. Models developed using a structured hypothesis testing framework would allow formalizing uncertainties while underscoring the importance of incorporating different population and ecosystem processes to explain non‐stationary stock productivity. Here, we develop a conceptual framework for extending and comparing population dynamics models of increasing complexity. We illustrate the utility of the framework by investigating the population and ecosystem processes that most likely affected the differential recovery of two flatfish populations (American plaice and yellowtail flounder) on the Newfoundland Grand Banks over the past three decades. We found that yellowtail flounder population dynamics were primarily driven by recruitment variability, which was negatively affected by warmer climatological conditions, as indicated by an integrated regional climate index. Meanwhile, American plaice population dynamics were affected by a combination of temporal variability in recruitment and natural mortality, where natural mortality increased during colder than average conditions. By exploring hypotheses about the effects of population and ecosystem processes on population dynamics, this modelling framework will improve understanding about the drivers of shifts in population productivity while serving as a transparent and robust approach to support ecosystem‐based fisheries management.

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Section: Grand Bank Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing models of increasing complexity to develop ecosystem‐informed fisheries advice

Robertson,

Cadigan,

Regular

et al. 2024

Fish and Fisheries

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“…In colder climate phases, larger volumes of near freezing waters are found on the NL shelves [19], potentially limiting the distribution of species that are less cold tolerant [44], or resulting in distributional shifts of some stocks towards areas with more suitable conditions [22]. The different climate phases on the NL shelves also imply changes in the severity of winter and sea ice conditions, which alter the timing of post-winter ocean re-stratification and the phenology of the spring phytoplankton bloom, with earlier blooms associated with warmer climate, and vice-versa [45].…”

Section: Climate and Ecosystem Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Warmer climate phases are also associated with higher densities of Calanus finmarchicus, a key copepod species in the NL ecosystems [45]. Increases in their density can be explained not only by increases in primary production during warm phases, but also by a better match between the end of C. finmarchicus winter diapause and the timing of the phytoplankton bloom [46,47].…”

Section: Climate and Ecosystem Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Control on the Productivity of a Heavily Fished Ecosystem

Cyr,

Adamack,

Bélanger

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Sustainable fisheries management requires an understanding of the links between environmental conditions and fish stock populations, especially in the context of climate change. From this perspective, identifying phases where ocean climate fluctuations and changes in ecosystem productivity coincide could provide a powerful tool to help inform fisheries management. Using more than 70 years of climate and fisheries data, this study shows that the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) ecosystem productivity, from primary producers to piscivorous fish, changes in relative synchronicity with the climate of the northern hemisphere over decadal time scales. Such correspondence between the climate and lower and higher trophic levels has not been achieved previously in the Northwest Atlantic in the context of fisheries. This work advances ideas for incorporating environmental knowledge into fisheries management on the NL shelves, or in other regions facing similar dynamics.

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Physical controls and ecological implications of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf

Cyr

Lewis

Bélanger

et al. 2023

Limnol Oceanogr Letters

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The timing of spring phytoplankton blooms is crucial to many species that have adapted their development to benefit from the enhanced feeding opportunity they offer. Any change to their timing may affect the productivity of an entire ecosystem. This study explores the relationship between the ocean climate, the timing of the spring bloom and the secondary production on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf. It is found that over interannual cycles, the ocean climate is significantly correlated with the timing of the bloom and the abundance of Calanus finmarchicus, a key zooplankton species for the ecosystem. It also appears that the spring bloom is initiated by the onset of ocean re‐stratification following winter mixing. Understanding how annual variation in climate relates to the timing of the spring bloom and zooplankton abundance, that is, the base of the marine food web, can inform the development of ecosystem‐informed models for higher trophic levels.

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Physical controls and ecological implications of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Testing models of increasing complexity to develop ecosystem‐informed fisheries advice

Testing models of increasing complexity to develop ecosystem‐informed fisheries advice

Environmental Control on the Productivity of a Heavily Fished Ecosystem

Physical controls and ecological implications of the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom on the Newfoundland and Labrador shelf

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