Abstract
Samples collected by the Continuous Plankton Recorder in the southern North Sea have revealed marked changes in the timing and season length of 6 Ceratium species and the occurrence of other plankton species between 1970 and 1972, which persisted until 1974. These changes coincided with a considerable increase in salinity at the eastern end of the English Channel and it is suggested that they reflect an increase in the flow of English Channel water into the southern North Sea. This, in turn, appears to be related to an increase in westerly winds following a change in the distribution of atmospheric pressure over the northern North Atlantic after 1970.
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Communicated by J.H.S. Blaxter, Oban
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Colebrook, J.M., Reid, P.C. & Coombs, S.H. Continuous Plankton Records: A change in the plankton of the southern North Sea between 1970 and 1972. Mar. Biol. 45, 209–213 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390603
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390603