Mesozoic ecosystems – climate and biotas

Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota

1 Ecosystems and Climate

When viewed from space, Earth is seen as a blue marble. The dominant features of the planet are the blue of the oceans and the white of the clouds traversing the atmosphere. It is an image of fluids – water and air – in motion. Indeed, the study of Earth’s climate is dominated by the geophysical principles of fluid dynamics. With closer inspection, however, one can discern land masses – the con...

Climate, carbon cycling, and deep-ocean ecosystems.

Climate variation affects surface ocean processes and the production of organic carbon, which ultimately comprises the primary food supply to the deep-sea ecosystems that occupy approximately 60% of the Earth's surface. Warming trends in atmospheric and upper ocean temperatures, attributed to anthropogenic influence, have occurred over the past four decades. Changes in upper ocean temperature i...

Coral reef ecosystems and anthropogenic climate change

Coral reef ecosystems are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. In addition to their value in terms of biodiversity, coral reefs provide food and resources for over 500 million people. Despite their importance, coral reefs are declining at a rapid rate (1–2% per year) as a result of a range of local (e.g., overexploitation of fisheries, declining water quality) and globa...

Marine ecosystems, climate and phenology: introduction

Mid to high-latitude marine ecosystems are characterized by strong intra-seasonal variability in productivity across multiple trophic levels. It is understood that climate variability, as well as projected climate change, is likely to cause substantial changes in the timing of key seasonal events, such as the spring phytoplankton bloom, dates of diapause for zooplankton, or nesting dates in sea...