Trans-Atlantic Study of Calanus: Modelling the effect of large scale advection and life cycle strategies

The aim of this subtask of the Trans-Atlantic Study of Calanus (TASC) programme was to quantify how advection within the Norwegian Sea and life cycle strategies (number of generations per year, developmental rate and vertical migration behaviour) interact to produce the distribution pattern and high production rate of this species that is observed. The answers to the questions addressed here can only be achieved through a combined, basin wide hydrodynamical model coupled to a life cycle model of C. finmarchicus.

Typically model simulations periods will be a year or more. Since there are many uncertainties both in the biology of Calanus and the current field when such long term simulations are performed, model investigation will concentrate on scenarios and sensitivity tests. Three climatic cases will be simulated: Climatic average with monthly mean flow field and temperatures, and two cases with high and low inflow of Atlantic water, respectively, using daily average flow.