PHYSICAL-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS INFLUENCING MARINE PLANKTON PRODUCTION

The interaction of physical and biological processes is extremely impo rtant in structuring the biological communities in all marine environm ents, yet the complexity of this interaction at all scales is just beg inning to be appreciated. We review the patterns of plankton biomass a nd the processes that influence plankton production, and in particular emphasize the importance of different processes at different time and space scales (small-scale, mesoscale, and large-scale). Examples of t wo different systems (the Southern Ocean and the subarctic North Pacif ic and North Atlantic Oceans) are given to illustrate the complexity a nd strength of the interactions. We conclude that biological processes may be more important at smaller scales where behavior such as vertic al migration and predation may control the plankton production, wherea s physical processes may be more important at larger scales in structu ring biological communities. An understanding of both, however, is cri tical to an understanding of the distribution of plankton and the proc esses governing production in the ocean.