IAI-FinalReport_ISP2_078: Benthic Communities and Biogeographic Boundaries in Chile and California

This dataset refers to Final Report of the ISP round 2 project number 078,
which
has the name "BENTHIC COMMUNITIES AND BIOGEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES IN CHILE AND
CALIFORNIA". The prospect of future climate change has led to several recent
predictions for changes in the physical oceanography of the Pacific, including
changes in water temperature, sea-level rise, and the frequency and intensity
of naturally occurring large scale anomalies such as ENSO (e.g. Bakun 1990,
Manabe et al. 1991, 1992, Peterson et al. 1993). The ecology of benthic
nearshore organisms in the temperate Pacific coast of North and South America
is comparatively well understood (Mooney et al. 1993, Paine 1994). However, we
know little about the links between these highly productive and specious
benthic systems and the coastal water masses in which they are immersed.
Understanding the connections between coastal oceanographic processes and
benthic populations is precisely the kind of knowledge needed to build a
predictive framework of ecosystem responses to short- and long-term climatic
changes. To find information about this project, as well as its results, see
the Final Report.