The California Current Ecosystem LTER is part of the network of Long-Term Ecological Research sites funded by the National Science Foundation.
The California Current System is a coastal upwelling biome, as found along the eastern margins of all major ocean basins. These are among the most productive ecosystems in the world ocean. The California Current Ecosystem LTER (32.9°, -120.3°) is investigating nonlinear transitions in the California Current coastal pelagic ecosystem, with particular attention to long-term forcing by a secular warming trend, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and El Niño in altering the structure and dynamics of the pelagic ecosystem. The California Current sustains active fisheries for a variety of finfish and marine invertebrates, modulates weather patterns and the hydrologic cycle of much of the western United States, and plays a vital role in the economy of myriad coastal communities.
CCE Diel Periodicity Cruise P2007. In the first cruise since the pandemic-related fleet standdown, a group of CCE graduate students led by Stephanie Matthews is conducting a study of diel periodicity in upper ocean processes. (Link to cruise preparations.)
CCE Forum on: (better) Integration of Models and Measurements in the CCE. 1:30 - 5:30 pm PDT. If you'd like to make a short presentation, contact Mark Ohman.
Spring CalCOFI cruise cancelled.. For the first time since 1973, CalCOFI will not be able to sample the California Current System in springtime because of fleet stand-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coastal red tide. An OLCI satellite image (click here for image), courtesy of Mati Kahru, reveals the extent of a high chlorophyll bloom in coastal water off Southern California. Near San Diego Bay, the Scripps Pier, and Orange County the bloom is known to be dominated by dinoflagellates (including Lingulodineum polyedra).
Renewed warming in the North Pacific - BLOB 2.0.. A team including Art Miller of CCE analyzes the occurrence of a 2.5° C warming event in the Northeast Pacific Ocean in summer 2019 (https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=300534&org=NSF&from=news)
Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Diego Numerous CCE members participated in the OSM, including in two special sessions on Cross-shore fluxes in Ocean Boundary Currents: Biogeochemical and Ecological Consequences organized by CCE.
CCE Mid-term Site Review - at SIO
Zooplankton effects on carbon sequestration - A suite of 3 papers was published by the Mike Stukel lab (FSU) concerning active and passive C transport mediated by zooplankton (https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/research-provides-new-insight-roles-plankton-marine-carbon-storage ).
CCE Process Cruise P1908. A science team of 33, led by Chief Scientist Mark Ohman, together w/ ship's crew of 24, embarked on the R/V Atlantis to track coastal upwelling filaments off the central California coast. At-sea blog: https://cce.lternet.edu/blogs/201908/
Follow along with the CCE LTER researchers aboard the August 2019 Process Cruise
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
