California Sea Grant College Program

The project objectives were: To characterize intra- and interannual variations in the production of siliceous flora and fauna, and hydrography in the Santa Barbara Channel from 1993-present, a period that is marked by several abrupt oceanographic/climatic changes. To investigate relationships of microplankton distribution and species composition with water column properties of temperature, salinity and nutrients. To merge trap data with buoy and drifter data into qualitative synoptic circulation models. To test the hypothesis that siliceous microplankton in the Santa Barbara Channel are a result of both advection (horizontal and vertical) and in situ production. To characterize relationships between zooplankton biomass fluctuations and phytoplankton variability over the past decade.