UCSB Marine Climate UCSB Marine Climate Observations Observations

Dave Siegel, Libe Washburn, Dan Reed, Carter Ohlmann, Melanie Fewings, Jenn Caselle, Mark Brzezinski

University of California, Santa Barbara

UCSB Marine Climate Obs

• Plumes & Blooms - bio-optics– Siegel PI - 1996 to present

• Santa Barbara Coastal LTER - kelp forest– Reed PI - 2000 to present

• PISCO - fish/invert recruitment– Caselle/Gaines/Warner - 1999 to present

• PO Observatory - HF radar, shallow moorings

• F3 - Modeling of connectivity in SoCal Bight– UCSB/UCLA collaboration

Stormwater Plumes

February 15, 1998 - El Niño Floods

WiFS-LwN(555)

Upwelling Control of Blooms

Plumes & Blooms Program

• Understand, predict & utilize changes in ocean color in the Santa Barbara Channel

• Monthly day cruises (7 stations)• Field observations started in 1996 (future = ??)

• Measurements– CTD/optics (LwN(), a(), b(), bbb(), PSD, etc.)

– NUTs, Chl, HPLC pigments, DOC, DIC, pSi, etc.

– Satellite acquisition & analysis

– Shortly glider observations…

Cross-channel SST(Station 1 off Campus Point)

Station 4 Profile (channel center)

PnB Sampling Program

www.icess.ucsb.edu/PnB

The SBC-LTER Conceptual Framework

The SBC-LTER Conceptual Framework

From current SBC LTER proposal (sbc.lternet.edu)

Climate change effects on giant kelp forests

Long-term measurementsPrimary production: • Giant kelp biomass, stoichometry, & net primary production

monthly at 3 sites since 2002

Community structure and foodweb dynamics• Abundance and diversity of algae, invertebrates and fish

annually at 11 sites since 2001 & twice per season at 4 sites since 2009

Environmental variables measured• Temperature, nutrients, salinity, bottom irradiance, swell ht. & period

ranges from minutes to months since 2000 depending on variable

Notable findings• Disturbance from waves overwhelms bottom-up and top-down forcing of net primary production by giant kelp

• Increases in the frequency of intense wave disturbance simplifies kelp forest food webs by preferentially removing foundation species

Regional Kelp Dynamics in the SB Channel (1984-2009)

mean

El N

ino

El N

ino

Biom

ass

(kg)

Landsat 5 assessment of giant kelp canopy biomass30 m spatial resolution Validated with SBC LTER biomass (R2 = 0.65)

CV = 87%

Reg

iona

l Gia

nt K

elp

Bio

mas

s

AQUE Occupancy % MOHK Occupancy %

Enables kelp forest assessments on range of scalesLandsat 5 is still operating…

West coast surface current mapping network

- nearly continuous coverage

along US west coast

- hourly observations

- 2-6 km spatial resolution

- time series length to ~10 yr

- coverage extends ~150 km offshore

- most data available online

Buoyant Poleward Flows

- SCUBA surveys of all dominant organisms in kelp forests (fishes, inverts, algae & habitat)

- Annually since 1999- Includes size structure and recruitment of fishes and select invertebrates- Inside and outside of MPAs

PISCO Kelp Forest Monitoring

www.piscoweb.org

- SMURFs (Standardized Monitoring Units for Recruitment of Fishes), brushes, tuffies and other artificial collectors: sample fishes, urchins, crabs, mussels- Biweekly sampling since 2000- April-November - Other sites in So Cal & Cen Cal have been sampled over the years by partners

PISCO

PISCO Settlement and Recruitment monitoring

www.piscoweb.org

Flow, Fish & Fishing Biocomplexity

• Examine interconnections among flow, fish stocks & fishing in the SoCal Bight - Siegel, Costello, Kendall, Gaines & Warner

• Key: quantify nearshore connectivity

• Off-line Lagrangian experimentation for 1996 to 2008

• Collaboration with Dong & McWilliams [UCLA]

From Watson et al. MEPS [2010]

Flow, Fish & Fishing Biocomplexity

• Enables spatial fishery/conservation modeling, analysis of roles of connectivity in community structure & pop genetics, etc.

• Integral part of the MPLA’s MPA assessment for SoCal Bight

Thanx…