444 



106 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE NEXT DECADE 



technologies include schlieren video systems and holography, which 

 have been used in the laboratory to study zooplankton feeding 

 behavior. When successfully applied in situ, three-dimensional 

 analyses of individual organisms and their spatial relations will 

 be possible on scales sufficient to resolve the behavior of indi- 

 vidual organisms. 



Time Series 



The concept of acquiring long time series of key ecosystem 

 variables at important locations in the global ocean is certainly 

 not new. Yet, with the possible exception of tide-gauge stations, 

 the routine collection of temperature data by commercial ships, 

 and a few simple physical measurements, time-series measure- 

 ment programs are rare. A notable example of long time-series 

 biological measurements is the Continuous Plankton Recorder Sur- 

 veys of marine plankton in the North Atlantic Ocean. Ongoing 

 programs measuring biological variables (e.g., the California Co- 

 operative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation) are generally poorly funded. 

 Virtually all recent planning reports stress the importance of long 

 time series to resolve key global change issues and to describe the 

 fundamental attributes of marine ecosystem dynamics. Satellite 

 sensors and bio-optical moorings provide one level of informa- 

 tion, but many more in situ observations are needed. Federal 

 agencies recently have recognized the importance of financially 

 supporting long-term measurement programs. For example, NSF 

 supports time series stations at Bermuda and Hawaii, and the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Office 

 of the Oceanographer of the Navy are planning the U.S. contribu- 

 tion to a global ocean monitoring system. These time-series sta- 

 tions could be considered the beginning of the biological portion 

 of a global ocean observing system. 



Ideas and technologies are in place to make significant progress 

 during the next 10 years in determining the role of marine ecosys- 

 tems in global ocean biogeochemical cycles and the effects of 

 global change on marine ecosystems. Available technologies range 

 from molecular probes to satellite sensors. The ideas cover a 

 comparable range of scales, from hypotheses about predator-prey 

 encounters at centimeter-length scales to those about interannual 

 variability in global ocean primary production. During the past 

 five years, biological oceanographers have conducted a number of 

 workshops and issued a large number of planning documents and 

 reports (Appendix III). The field is obviously not idea limited. 



