Emergent patterns of patchiness differ between physical and planktonic properties in the ocean

Area of Science:

• Oceanography
• Ecological modeling
• Biogeochemistry

Background:

• Decades of research on ocean patchiness exist, but controls on biological patchiness and its relation to physical-ecological-biogeochemical processes remain debated.
• The prevailing hypothesis suggests physics dictates biological structure, yet this lacks basin-scale validation with consistent in situ data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify ocean patchiness using a novel method.
• To test the hypothesis that physical processes control biological patchiness at a basin scale.
• To investigate the relationship between physical, biological, and biogeochemical patchiness across major oceans.

Main Methods:

• Utilized ~650,000 continuous in situ measurements (approx. 200m resolution) from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans.
• Quantified patchiness by analyzing the slope of the variance versus spatial scale relationship.
• Compared patchiness patterns of biological, physical, and biogeochemical parameters.

Main Results:

• Biological and physical patchiness were found to be uncorrelated across basin scales.
• The variance slope, a measure of patchiness, is an emergent property.
• Biogeochemical properties exhibited unique patchiness patterns distinct from physical tracers but correlated with other biological tracers.

Conclusions:

• Challenges the long-held view that physics solely structures biological patchiness in the ocean.
• Highlights that patchiness patterns for biological and physical parameters are not directly linked at basin scales.
• Suggests patchiness is an emergent property with distinct drivers for biological and biogeochemical properties, opening new avenues for research into oceanic spatial patterns.