453 



FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN OCEAN SCIENCES 



115 



FIGURE 3-6 Continued 



Physical processes on the scale of millimeters to kilometers 

 have a major impact on the behavioral responses, feeding rates, 

 interactions, and distributions of plankton, fish, and benthic in- 

 vertebrates in the coastal ocean. For example, coastal fronts, is- 

 land wakes, tidal flows, and vertical circulation cells are only a 

 few of the many types of physical phenomena that can aggregate 

 organisms or alter their behavior. Moreover, turbulence and small 

 eddies on the scale of millimeters to meters partially determine 

 the encounter rates of herbivores feeding on passive phytoplank- 

 ton and bacteria and of predatory interactions among smaller pe- 

 lagic organisms. An understanding of the effects of water move- 

 ments on the behavior and distribution of organisms in the ocean 

 will be one of the most challenging aspects of future research, 

 particularly in coastal areas, where both physical processes and 

 organisms are especially diverse and numerous. 



