Biomass changes and trophic amplification of plankton in a warmer ocean.

Ocean warming can modify the ecophysiology and distribution of marine organisms, and relationships between species, with nonlinear interactions between ecosystem components potentially resulting in trophic amplification. Trophic amplification (or attenuation) describe the propagation of a hydroclimatic signal up the food web, causing magnification (or depression) of biomass values along one or more trophic pathways. We have employed 3-D coupled physical-biogeochemical models to explore ecosystem responses to climate change with a focus on trophic amplification.

Interannual variability of surface heat fluxes in the Adriatic Sea in the period 1998-2001 and comparison with observations.

Surface heat fluxes of the Adriatic Sea are estimated for the period 1998-2001 through bulk formulae with the goal to assess the uncertainties related to their estimations and to describe their interannual variability. In addition a comparison to observations is conducted. We computed the components of the sea surface heat budget by using two different operational meteorological data sets as inputs: the ECMWF operational analysis and the regional limited area model LAMBO operational forecast.

A numerical study of the interannual variability of the Adriatic Sea (2000-2002).

A free-surface, three-dimensional finite-difference numerical model based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) has been implemented in order to simulate the interannual variability of the Adriatic Sea circulation. The implementation makes use of an interactive surface momentum and heat flux computation that utilizes the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 6-h analyses and the model predicted sea surface temperatures. The model is also nested at its open boundary with a coarse-resolution Mediterranean general circulation model, utilizing the same surface forcing functions.