Journal
NATURE
Volume 429, Issue 6993, Pages 749-754Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature02605
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Seasonal development of dissolved-oxygen deficits (hypoxia) represents an acute system-level perturbation to ecological dynamics and fishery sustainability in coastal ecosystems around the globe(1-3). Whereas anthropogenic nutrient loading has increased the frequency and severity of hypoxia in estuaries and semi-enclosed seas(3,4), the occurrence of hypoxia in open-coast upwelling systems reflects ocean conditions that control the delivery of oxygen-poor and nutrient-rich deep water onto continental shelves(1). Upwelling systems support a large proportion of the world's fisheries(5), therefore understanding the links between changes in ocean climate, upwelling-driven hypoxia and ecological perturbations is critical. Here we report on the unprecedented development of severe inner-shelf (<70 m) hypoxia and resultant mass die-offs of fish and invertebrates within the California Current System. In 2002, cross-shelf transects revealed the development of abnormally low dissolved-oxygen levels as a response to anomalously strong flow of subarctic water into the California Current System. Our findings highlight the sensitivity of inner-shelf ecosystems to variation in ocean conditions, and the potential impacts of climate change on marine communities.
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