Characterization of Zooplankton Community and Size Composition in Relation to Hydrography and Circulation in the Sea of Japan

Our ultimate scientific goal is to understand both the biological (e.g., population structure and dynamics and behavior) and physical (e.g., advection, mesoscale physical processes, turbulence) mechanisms that act in concert to produce the observed distributions of plankton in the ocean. Our approach has been to conduct a combination of field, lab, and modeling studies. Field studies define the temporal changes in the distributional patterns of population structure resulting from population growth, swimming behavior, and physical transport. Laboratory studies yield insights into vital rates and behavioral patterns. Modeling ties together the vital rate and behavioral information with the population structure and transport data to determine the mechanisms responsible for observed population distributions.