Patterns and Processes in the Time-Space Scales of Plankton Distributions

Abstract

It is evident that organisms have aggregated, patchy distributions of abundance on a wide variety of space and time scales. This can easily be seen in the terrestrial and littoral environments. It has been more difficult to observe in the pelagic realm simply because we cannot see into the ocean. Thus we must depend upon sampling to gain an impression of the space-time scales of pattern in this habitat. Despite the difficulties, enough sampling of the right sort has now been done so that we can make some very general statements about the nature of pattern in the ocean, particularly with regard to pattern in the distribution and abundance of planktonic organisms. All the evidence indicates that plankton is patchy on a broad spectrum of scales. Because this aggregated spatial pattern is such a general phenomenon, there is little question of its ecological and evolutionary importance. Further, because we assume our samples represent a larger universe, patchiness strongly affects our efforts to obtain estimates of the abundance of organisms and our ability to detect significant spatial and temporal changes in abundance. It is therefore of great importance that we understand its nature, causes, and effects.