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Recent analyses have shown that significant changes have occurred in patterns of sea ice seasonality in West Antarctica since 1979, with wide-ranging climatic, biological and biogeochemical consequences. Here, we provide the first detailed report on long-term change and variability in annual timings of sea ice advance, retreat and resultant ice season duration in East Antarctica. These were calculated from satellite-derived ice concentration data for the period 1979/80 to 2009/10. The pattern of change in sea ice seasonality off East Antarctica comprises mixed signals on regional to local scales, with pockets of strongly positive and negative trends occurring in near juxtaposition in certain regions e.g., Prydz Bay. This pattern strongly reflects change and variability in different elements of the marine “icescape”, including fast ice, polynyas and the marginal ice zone. A trend towards shorter sea-ice duration (of 1 to 3 days per annum) occurs in fairly isolated pockets in the outer pack from∼95–110°E, and in various near-coastal areas that include an area of particularly strong and persistent change near Australia's Davis Station and between the Amery and West Ice Shelves. These areas are largely associated with coastal polynyas that are important as sites of enhanced sea ice production/melt. Areas of positive trend in ice season duration are more extensive, and include an extensive zone from 160–170°E (i.e., the western Ross Sea sector) and the near-coastal zone between 40–100°E. The East Antarctic pattern is considerably more complex than the well-documented trends in West Antarctica e.g., in the Antarctic Peninsula-Bellingshausen Sea and western Ross Sea sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beaugrand, G. and Reid, P. C. 2012. Relationships between North Atlantic salmon, plankton, and hydroclimatic change in the Northeast Atlantic – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1549–1562.The abundance of wild salmon (Salmo salar) in the North Atlantic has declined markedly since the late 1980s as a result of increased marine mortality that coincided with a marked rise in sea temperature in oceanic foraging areas. There is substantial evidence to show that temperature governs the growth, survival, and maturation of salmon during their marine migrations through either direct or indirect effects. In an earlier study (2003), long-term changes in three trophic levels (salmon, zooplankton, and phytoplankton) were shown to be correlated significantly with sea surface temperature (SST) and northern hemisphere temperature (NHT). A sequence of trophic changes ending with a stepwise decline in the total nominal catch of North Atlantic salmon (regime shift in ∼1986/1987) was superimposed on a trend to a warmer dynamic regime. Here, the earlier study is updated with catch and abundance data to 2010, confirming earlier results and detecting a new abrupt shift in ∼1996/1997. Although correlations between changes in salmon, plankton, and temperature are reinforced, the significance of the correlations is reduced because the temporal autocorrelation of time-series substantially increased due to a monotonic trend in the time-series, probably related to global warming. This effect may complicate future detection of effects of climate change on natural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The photochemistry of nitrosyl chloride (ClNO) dissolvedin cyclohexane is investigated using ultrafast time-resolved infrared(TRIR) spectroscopy. Following 266 nm photolysis, the photochemistryis measured by following changes in optical density at frequenciesspanning the NO stretch fundamental transition. A photoinduceddepletion in optical density is observed consistent with the depletionof ground-state ClNO. The depletion in optical density remains constantout to ∼50 ps demonstrating that ClNO photodissociation isnot followed by recombination of the Cl and NO photofragments. Inaddition, no evidence for the formation of the ClON photoisomer isobserved. These results stand in contrast to previous studies in acetonitrilewhere ClNO photolysis is followed by geminate recombination of Cland NO, and by the production of ClON. These differences in ClNO photochemistryare proposed to arise from the population of different excited-statescaused by solvent dependence of the ground-state potential energysurface minimum along the Cl–N stretch coordinate. Solvent-dependentvibrational relaxation and differences in strength of the solventcage are also proposed to contribute to the solvent-dependent photochemistry.Finally, these results are placed in the context of recent modelsof ClNO photochemistry and role of this compound in tropospheric ozoneproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypervalent dimethyloxonium radical, (CH3)2O&z.sbnd;H⋅ (1), is formed by collisional electron transfer to protonated dimethyl ether in the gas phase and dissociates rapidly by cleavage of the O&z.sbnd;H and O&z.sbnd;C bonds. Ab initio and density functional theory calculations show that these dissociations originate from different electronic states of 1. The loss of H proceeds from the repulsive ground electronic (X) state of 1 and is 131 kJ mol−1 exothermic to form vibrationally excited (CH3)2O. The loss of methyl proceeds from the first excited electronic (A) state of 1 by crossing to the repulsive part of the X state potential energy surface, yielding vibrationally excited methanol. A substantial fraction of deuterated radicals, (CH3)2O&z.sbnd;D⋅ (1-OD), are metastable on the microsecond time scale. The metastable species result from the population of the B and higher excited states of 1 that are calculated to be bound along both O&z.sbnd;H and O&z.sbnd;C coordinates. The isotope effects on the metastability of 1 are explained by less efficient vibronic coupling between the bound B and dissociative A states in the deuterated radical. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The geographical and seasonal occurrences of dinoflagellate cysts at a depth of 10 m in the North Atlantic and North Sea are described from samples taken by the Continuous Plankton Recorder between June 1973 and December 1975. A special study was made of the large cyst of Polykrikos schwartzii Bütschli in the autumn of 1973 when CPR samples were supplemented by vertical sampling in the upper 500 m with a Longhurst-Hardy Plankton Recorder at Ocean Weather Station, INDIA. Only ten isolated records of cysts were made in the western Atlantic. All others occurred to the east of 30°W in both oceanic and neritic waters and especially in the shallow waters of the North Sea. Cysts were found in the spring plankton but were most abundant in the autumn. They have been recorded down to 500 m but occur most frequently in the top 30 m of the water column. Large aggregations of cysts in bottom sediments probably reflect concentration over many years since they cannot be explained by the low numbers found in the plankton. Generally, the distribution of cysts in the plankton is reflected in bottom sediments but concentrations in sediments may be outside the centres of production, implying movement by currents or sediment transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cluster analysis of the dinoflagellate cyst assemblage of sixty-eight intertidal sediment samples from the British Isles has been used to divide the coastline into eleven regions. The resulting pattern of regions is discussed in relation to hydrography and the distribution of dinoflagellates in the plankton. The subdivision of dinoflagellate regions shows a close relationship to the occurrence of chaetognath indicators of water masses around the British Isles. This suggests that cyst propagation is localized and that each water mass has its own characteristic dinoflagellate population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide evidence of large-scale changes in the biogeography of calanoid copepod crustaceans in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean and European shelf seas. We demonstrate that strong biogeogrephical shifts in all copepod assemblages have occurred with a northward extension of more than 10° latitude of warm-water species associated with a decrease in the number of colder-water species. These biogeographical shifts are in agreement with recent changes in the spatial distribution and phenology detected for many taxonomic groups in terrestrial European ecosystems and are related to both the increasing trend in Northern Hemisphere temperature and the North Atlantic Oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard methods for studying the association between two ecologically important variables provide only a small slice of the information content of the association, but statistical approaches are available that provide comprehensive information. In particular, available approaches can reveal tail associations, that is, accentuated or reduced associations between the more extreme values of variables. We here study the nature and causes of tail associations between phenological or population‐density variables of co‐located species, and their ecological importance. We employ a simple method of measuring tail associations which we call the partial Spearman correlation. Using multidecadal, multi‐species spatiotemporal datasets on aphid first flights and marine phytoplankton population densities, we assess the potential for tail association to illuminate two major topics of study in community ecology: the stability or instability of aggregate community measures such as total community biomass and its relationship with the synchronous or compensatory dynamics of the community's constituent species; and the potential for fluctuations and trends in species phenology to result in trophic mismatches. We find that positively associated fluctuations in the population densities of co‐located species commonly show asymmetric tail associations; that is, it is common for two species' densities to be more correlated when large than when small, or vice versa. Ordinary measures of association such as correlation do not take this asymmetry into account. Likewise, positively associated fluctuations in the phenology of co‐located species also commonly show asymmetric tail associations. We provide evidence that tail associations between two or more species' population‐density or phenology time series can be inherited from mutual tail associations of these quantities with an environmental driver. We argue that our understanding of community dynamics and stability, and of phenologies of interacting species, can be meaningfully improved in future work by taking into account tail associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale spatial synchrony is ubiquitous in ecology. We examined 56 years of data representing chlorophyll density in 26 areas in British seas monitored by the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. We used wavelet methods to disaggregate synchronous fluctuations by timescale and determine that drivers of synchrony include both biotic and abiotic variables. We tested these drivers for statistical significance by comparison with spatially synchronous surrogate data. Identification of causes of synchrony is distinct from, and goes beyond, determining drivers of local population dynamics. We generated timescale-specific models, accounting for 61% of long-timescale (> 4yrs) synchrony in a chlorophyll density index, but only 3% of observed short-timescale (< 4yrs) synchrony. Thus synchrony and its causes are timescale-specific. The dominant source of long-timescale chlorophyll synchrony was closely related to sea surface temperature, through a climatic Moran effect, though likely via complex oceanographic mechanisms. The top-down action of Calanus finmarchicus predation enhances this environmental synchronising mechanism and interacts with it non-additively to produce more long-timescale synchrony than top-down and climatic drivers would produce independently. Our principal result is therefore a demonstration of interaction effects between Moran drivers of synchrony, a new mechanism for synchrony that may influence many ecosystems at large spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arising from D. G. Boyce, M. R. Lewis & B. Worm 466, 591-596 (2010); Boyce et al. replyPhytoplankton account for approximately 50% of global primary production, form the trophic base of nearly all marine ecosystems, are fundamental in trophic energy transfer and have key roles in climate regulation, carbon sequestration and oxygen production. Boyce et al. compiled a chlorophyll index by combining in situ chlorophyll and Secchi disk depth measurements that spanned a more than 100-year time period and showed a decrease in marine phytoplankton biomass of approximately 1% of the global median per year over the past century. Eight decades of data on phytoplankton biomass collected in the North Atlantic by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, however, show an increase in an index of chlorophyll (Phytoplankton Colour Index) in both the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic basins (Fig. 1), and other long-term time series, including the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT), the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) and the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) also indicate increased phytoplankton biomass over the last 20-50 years. These findings, which were not discussed by Boyce et al., are not in accordance with their conclusions and illustrate the importance of using consistent observations when estimating long-term trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article “The Coming Arctic invasion,” by G.J. Vermeij and P.D. Roopnarine in the August 8, 2008 issue.

Climate change is having a dramatic impact on marine animal and plant communities but little is known of its influence on marine prokaryotes, which represent the largest living biomass in the world oceans and play a fundamental role in maintaining life on our planet. In this study, for the first time to our knowledge, experimental evidence is provided on the link between multidecadal climatic variability in the temperate North Atlantic and the presence and spread of an important group of marine prokaryotes, the vibrios, which are responsible for several infections in both humans and animals. Using archived formalin-preserved plankton samples collected by the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey over the past half-century (1958–2011), we assessed retrospectively the relative abundance of vibrios, including human pathogens, in nine areas of the North Atlantic and North Sea and showed correlation with climate and plankton changes. Generalized additive models revealed that long-term increase in Vibrio abundance is promoted by increasing sea surface temperatures (up to ∼1.5 °C over the past 54 y) and is positively correlated with the Northern Hemisphere Temperature (NHT) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) climatic indices (P < 0.001). Such increases are associated with an unprecedented occurrence of environmentally acquired Vibrio infections in the human population of Northern Europe and the Atlantic coast of the United States in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of annealing on the phase transformation and the dielectric properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is explored using quasi-single molecule (quasi-SM) microscopy. The solvatochromic properties of nile red (NR) are employed to measure the spatial distribution of the local dielectric constant (ε) in ~30 µm thick PVDF films before and after annealing at 90 °C. The results presented here demonstrate that nonannealed films exhibit much larger ε distributions, both in terms of magnitude and distribution, when compared to annealed films. The polymorphic phase of PVDF before and after annealing is also confirmed using X-ray diffraction. Nonannealed films are found to be in the ɣ-phase with annealing promoting the transition to primarily β-phase. Combining these results, we conclude that the decrease in ε with annealing time is due to the phase transformation from ɣ- to β-phase. Using quasi-SM imaging techniques one can readily visualize the ε environments present within different polymorphic phases of PVDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thedependence of single-molecule photoluminescence intermittency(PI) or “blinking” on the local dielectric constant(ε) is examined for nile red (NR) in thin films of poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF). In previous studies, variation of the local dielectricconstant was accomplished by studying luminophores in chemically andstructurally different hosts. In contrast, the NR/PVDF guest–hostpair allows for the investigation of PI as a function of ε whilekeeping the chemical composition of both the luminophore and hostunchanged. The solvatochromic properties of NR are used to measurethe local ε, while fluctuations in NR emission intensity overtime provide a measure of the PI. PVDF is an ideal host for this studybecause it provides submicron-sized dielectric domains that vary fromnonpolar (ε ≈ 2) to very polar (ε ≈ 70).The results presented here demonstrate that the local dielectric environmentcan have a pronounced effect on PI. We find that the NR emissive eventsincrease 5-fold with an increase in ε from 2.2 to 74. A complexdependence on ε is also observed for NR nonemissive event durations,initially increasing as ε increases from 2.2 to 3.4 but decreasingin duration with further increase in ε. The variation in emissiveevent durations with ε is reproduced using a photoinduced electron-transfermodel involving electron transfer from NR to PVDF. In addition, anincrease in NR photostability with an increase in ε is observed,suggesting that the dielectric environment plays an important rolein defining the photostability of NR in PVDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent experimental and theoretical studies of photoluminescence intermittency (PI) or "blinking" exhibited by single core/shell quantum dots and single organic luminophores are reviewed. For quantum dots, a discussion of early models describing the origin of PI in these materials and recent challenges to these models are presented. For organic luminophores the role of electron transfer, proton transfer and other photophysical processes in PI are discussed. Finally, new experimental and data analysis methods are outlined that promise to be instrumental in future discoveries regarding the origin(s) of PI exhibited by single emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taylor's law (TL) is a widely observed empirical pattern that relates the variances to the means of groups of nonnegative measurements via an approximate power law: varianceg ≈ a × meangb, where g indexes the group of measurements. When each group of measurements is distributed in space, the exponent b of this power law is conjectured to reflect aggregation in the spatial distribution. TL has had practical application in many areas since its initial demonstrations for the population density of spatially distributed species in population ecology. Another widely observed aspect of populations is spatial synchrony, which is the tendency for time series of population densities measured in different locations to be correlated through time. Recent studies showed that patterns of population synchrony are changing, possibly as a consequence of climate change. We use mathematical, numerical, and empirical approaches to show that synchrony affects the validity and parameters of TL. Greater synchrony typically decreases the exponent b of TL. Synchrony influenced TL in essentially all of our analytic, numerical, randomization-based, and empirical examples. Given the near ubiquity of synchrony in nature, it seems likely that synchrony influences the exponent of TL widely in ecologically and economically important systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems can show sudden and persistent changes in state despite only incremental changes in drivers. Such critical transitions are difficult to predict, because the state of the system often shows little change before the transition. Early-warning indicators (EWIs) are hypothesized to signal the loss of system resilience and have been shown to precede critical transitions in theoretical models, paleo-climate time series, and in laboratory as well as whole lake experiments. The generalizability of EWIs for detecting critical transitions in empirical time series of natural aquatic ecosystems remains largely untested, however. Here we assessed four commonly used EWIs on long-term datasets of five freshwater ecosystems that have experienced sudden, persistent transitions and for which the relevant ecological mechanisms and drivers are well understood. These case studies were categorized by three mechanisms that can generate critical transitions between alternative states: competition, trophic cascade, and intraguild predation. Although EWIs could be detected in most of the case studies, agreement among the four indicators was low. In some cases, EWIs were detected considerably ahead of the transition. Nonetheless, our results show that at present, EWIs do not provide reliable and consistent signals of impending critical transitions despite using some of the best routinely monitored freshwater ecosystems. Our analysis strongly suggests that a priori knowledge of the underlying mechanisms driving ecosystem transitions is necessary to identify relevant state variables for successfully monitoring EWIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thevariation in dielectric constant is measured for thin films of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) using confocalfluorescence microscopy. Spatial variation in the local dielectricconstant of the polymer films on the ∼250 nm length scale ismeasured using the solvochromatic emission from incorporated nilered (NR) at “quasi-single molecule” (10–7M) and true single molecule (SM) concentrations (10–9M). Correlation of the NR fluorescence wavelength maximum with dielectricconstant is used to transform images of NR’s emission maximato spatial variation in local dielectric constant. We demonstratethat the distributions of dielectric environments measured in thequasi- and true SM approaches are equivalent; however, the enhancedsignal rates present in the quasi-SM approach result in this techniquebeing more efficient. In addition, the quasi-SM technique reportsdirectly on the continuous spatial variation in dielectric constant,information that is difficult to obtain in true SM studies. With regardsto the polymers of interest, the results presented here demonstratethat a limited distribution of dielectric environments is presentin PMMA; however, a broad distribution of environments exists in PVDFconsistent with this polymer existing as a distribution of structuralphases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decadal-scale regime shifts in Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems can be remotely forced by climate-associated atmosphere--ocean interactions in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean Basins. This remote climate forcing is mediated primarily by basin- and hemispheric-scale changes in ocean circulation. We review and synthesize results from process-oriented field studies and retrospective analyses of time-series data to document the linkages between climate, ocean circulation, and ecosystem dynamics. Bottom-up forcing associated with climate plays a prominent role in the dynamics of these ecosystems, comparable in importance to that of top-down forcing associated with commercial fishing. A broad perspective, one encompassing the effects of basin- and hemispheric-scale climate processes on marine ecosystems, will be critical to the sustainable management of marine living resources in the Northwest Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phytoplankton colour index (PCI) of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey is an in situ measure of ocean colour, which is considered a proxy of the phytoplankton biomass. PCI has been extensively used to describe the major spatiotemporal patterns of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Sea since 1931. Regardless of its wide application, the lack of an adequate evaluation to test the PCI's quantitative nature is an important limitation. To address this concern, a field trial over the main production season has been undertaken to assess the numerical values assigned by previous investigations for each category of the greenness of the PCI. CPRs were towed across the English Channel from Roscoff to Plymouth consecutively for each of 8 months producing 76 standard CPR samples, each representing 10 nautical miles of tow. The results of this experiment test and update the PCI methodology, and confirm the validity of this long-term in situ ocean colour data set. In addition, using a 60-year time series of the PCI of the western English Channel, a comparison is made between the previous and the current revised experimental calculations of PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term effects of ocean warming on prokaryotic communities are unknown because of lack of historical data. We overcame this gap by applying a retrospective molecular analysis to the bacterial community on formalin-fixed samples from the historical Continuous Plankton Recorder archive, which is one of the longest and most geographically extensive collections of marine biological samples in the world. We showed that during the last half century, ubiquitous marine bacteria of the Vibrio genus, including Vibrio cholerae, increased in dominance within the plankton-associated bacterial community of the North Sea, where an unprecedented increase in bathing infections related to these bacteria was recently reported. Among environmental variables, increased sea surface temperature explained 45% of the variance in Vibrio data, supporting the view that ocean warming is favouring the spread of vibrios and may be the cause of the globally increasing trend in their associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic nonlinear electrooptical (ONLO) chromophores must be acentrically ordered for the ONLO material to have electrooptic (EO) activity. The magnitude of the order is characterized by the acentric order parameter, ⟨cos3 β⟩, where β is the major Euler angle between the main axis of the chromophore and the poling field which imposes the acentric order. The acentric order parameter, which is difficult to measure directly, is related to the centrosymmetric order parameter, defined as ⟨P2⟩ = 1/2(3⟨cos2 β⟩ − 1), through the underlying statistical distribution. We have developed a method to determine centrosymmetric order of the ONLO chromophores when the order is low (i.e., ⟨P2⟩ < 0.1). We have extended the method (begun by Graf et al. J. Appl. Phys. 1994 , 75 , 3335.) based on the absorption of light to determine the centrosymmetric order parameter induced by a poling field on a thin film sample of ONLO material. We find that the order parameters, analyzed by two different methods, are similar and also consistent with theoretical estimates from modeling of the system using coarse-grained Monte Carlo statistical mechanical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) has been overexploited in the North Sea since the late 1960s and great concern has been expressed about the decline in cod biomass and recruitment. Here we show that, in addition to the effects of overfishing, fluctuations in plankton have resulted in long-term changes in cod recruitment in the North Sea (bottom-up control). Survival of larval cod is shown to depend on three key biological parameters of their prey: the mean size of prey, seasonal timing and abundance. We suggest a mechanism, involving the match/mismatch hypothesis, by which variability in temperature affects larval cod survival and conclude that rising temperature since the mid-1980s has modified the plankton ecosystem in a way that reduces the survival of young cod. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deriving maps of phytoplankton taxa based on remote sensing data using bio-optical properties of phytoplankton alone is challenging. A more holistic approach was developed using artificial neural networks, incorporating ecological and geographical knowledge together with ocean color, bio-optical characteristics, and remotely sensed physical parameters. Results show that the combined remote sensing approach could discriminate four major phytoplankton functional types (diatoms, dinoflagellates, coccolithophores, and silicoflagellates) with an accuracy of more than 70%. Models indicate that the most important information for phytoplankton functional type discrimination is spatio-temporal information and sea surface temperature. This approach can supply data for large-scale maps of predicted phytoplankton functional types, and an example is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several environmental/physical variables derived from satellite and in situ data sets were used to understand the variability of coccolithophore abundance in the subarctic North Atlantic. The 7-yr (1997-2004) time-series analysis showed that the combined effects of high solar radiation, shallow mixed layer depth (<20 m), and increased temperatures explained <89% of the coccolithophore variation. The June 1998 bloom, which was associated with high light intensity, unusually high sea-surface temperature, and a very shallow mixed layer, was found to be one of the most extensive (>995,000 km²) blooms ever recorded. There was a pronounced sea-surface temperature shift in the mid-1990s with a peak in 1998, suggesting that exceptionally large blooms are caused by pronounced environmental conditions and the variability of the physical environment strongly affects the spatial extent of these blooms. Consequently, if the physical environment varies, the effects of these blooms on the atmospheric and oceanic environment will vary as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]