Far-field control of long-term changes in Northumberland (NW North Sea) coastal zooplankton

Abstract

Zooplankton at a station 5.5 nautical miles off the Northumberland coast has been monitored monthly since 1968. Multivariate statistics distinguish two groups in the samples, with a change in community structure around 1979. These groups are not the result of dramatic changes in the occurrence of key species, but reflect small changes in abundance of many species. This study investigates the relationship between temporal changes in this community and local meteorological factors, far-field hydrographic/meteorological factors and internal, biotic, feedbacks, including availability of phytoplankton and abundance of predators. The results indicate good correlations for both zooplankton abundance and community structure with the position of the north wall of the Gulf Stream. Implications are discussed.