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Phytoplankton Patchiness: Ecological Implications and Observation Methods

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Patch Dynamics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Biomathematics ((LNBM,volume 96))

Abstract

Phytoplankton ecosystems were once viewed as nearly static (or at least only slowly varying) systems on scales of roughly a few days and spatial scales of a few tens of kilometers. A notable example of research based on this view is the map of primary production by Koblentz-Mishke et al. (1970). As sampling techniques improved, variability was found to occur at smaller and smaller scales. Much of this variability was thought to be controlled by physical processes, such as turbulence, and these processes were included in models of the variance spectrum (Denman et al. 1977, Denman and Platt 1976). These ideas challenged the traditional notions of stability, suggesting that maps of “average” biomass and productivity were essentially meaningless; the structure of the variability of the planktonic ecosystem was thought to be more important.

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Authors
  1. Mark R. Abbott
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 08544-1003, Eno Hall, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Simon A. Levin

  2. Division of Environmental Sciences, University of California, 95616, Davis, CA, USA

    Thomas M. Powell

  3. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 02543, Woods Hole, MA, USA

    John W. Steele

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Abbott, M.R. (1993). Phytoplankton Patchiness: Ecological Implications and Observation Methods. In: Levin, S.A., Powell, T.M., Steele, J.W. (eds) Patch Dynamics. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics, vol 96. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-50155-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-50155-5_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-56525-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-50155-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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