Population dynamics: stratification and food
Hypotheses

•Changes in abundance and size-class structure of the plankton are caused by changes in stratification. •Timing of blooms over GOM and GB controlled by surface turbulence/cooling vs. solar heating/advection of buoyant SS water. •Early winter bloom over GOM leads to enhanced copepod abundance on GB. •Low total food on the SF in April is a recurrent but predictably variable feature, arising from a combination of changing stratification levels and increased grazing pressure by copepods.