Sea Surface Temperature Influence on Terrestrial Gross Primary Production along the Southern California Current

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Author(s)Reimer, Janet J.
Author(s)Vargas, Rodrigo
Author(s)Rivas, David
Author(s)Gaxiola-Castro, Gilberto
Author(s)Hernandez-Ayon, J. Martin
Author(s)Lara-Lara, Ruben
Ordered AuthorJanet J. Reimer, Rodrigo Vargas, David Rivas, Gilberto Gaxiola-Castro, J. Martin Hernandez-Ayon, Ruben Lara-Lara
UD AuthorReimer, Janet J.en_US
UD AuthorVargas, Rodrigoen_US
Date Accessioned2016-04-25T13:55:09Z
Date Available2016-04-25T13:55:09Z
Copyright DateCopyright © 2015 Reimer et al.en_US
Publication Date2015-04-29
DescriptionPublisher's PDF.en_US
AbstractSome land and ocean processes are related through connections (and synoptic-scale teleconnections) to the atmosphere. Synoptic-scale atmospheric (El Niño/Southern Oscillation [ENSO], Pacific Decadal Oscillation [PDO], and North Atlantic Oscillation [NAO]) decadal cycles are known to influence the global terrestrial carbon cycle. Potentially, smaller scale land-ocean connections influenced by coastal upwelling (changes in sea surface temperature) may be important for local-to-regional water-limited ecosystems where plants may benefit from air moisture transported from the ocean to terrestrial ecosystems. Here we use satellite-derived observations to test potential connections between changes in sea surface temperature (SST) in regions with strong coastal upwelling and terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) across the Baja California Peninsula. This region is characterized by an arid/ semiarid climate along the southern California Current. We found that SST was correlated with the fraction of photosynthetic active radiation (fPAR; as a proxy for GPP) with lags ranging from 0 to 5 months. In contrast ENSO was not as strongly related with fPAR as SST in these coastal ecosystems. Our results show the importance of local-scale changes in SST during upwelling events, to explain the variability in GPP in coastal, water-limited ecosystems. The response of GPP to SST was spatially-dependent: colder SST in the northern areas increased GPP (likely by influencing fog formation), while warmer SST at the southern areas was associated to higher GPP (as SST is in phase with precipitation patterns). Interannual trends in fPAR are also spatially variable along the Baja California Peninsula with increasing secular trends in subtropical regions, decreasing trends in the most arid region, and no trend in the semi-arid regions. These findings suggest that studies and ecosystem process based models should consider the lateral influence of local-scale ocean processes that could influence coastal ecosystem productivity.en_US
DepartmentUniversity of Delaware. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.en_US
CitationReimer JJ, Vargas R, Rivas D, Gaxiola- Castro G, Hernandez-Ayon JM, Lara-Lara R (2015) Sea Surface Temperature Influence on Terrestrial Gross Primary Production along the Southern California Current. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0125177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125177en_US
DOI10.1371/journal.pone.0125177en_US
ISSN1932-6203en_US
URLhttp://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/17674
Languageen_USen_US
PublisherPublic Library of Science (PLOS)en_US
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0en_US
dc.sourcePLOS Oneen_US
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosone/en_US
TitleSea Surface Temperature Influence on Terrestrial Gross Primary Production along the Southern California Currenten_US
TypeArticleen_US
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