Impacts of wind-enhanced upwelling on nearshore biological productivity and biogeochemistry in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

On the south-east coast of South Africa it is unclear as to what extent wind-enhanced upwelling effects biological productivity and biogeochemistry. It is likely that this form of upwelling contributes to enhancing recruitment and settlement of rocky shore invertebrate larvae on the Eastern Cape coast, as well as to productivity on the Agulhas Bank, an important spawning ground for many of South Africa’s commercial fish stocks. Future climate change is predicted to have an effect on regional wind patterns and therefore on the magnitude of upwelling. It is thus essential to gain an understanding of the impact of wind-enhanced coastal upwelling on biological productivity and biogeochemical processes in order to predict changes in ecosystem function and productivity in the future. This study focuses primarily on assessing the impact that wind-enhanced upwelling has on productivity and biogeochemistry in the nearshore of a selected region of the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa.